


The Ghost with a Heart (Crossover)

by Streetfirre



Category: Danny Phantom, Spiderman - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Also feel free to let me know if I made a mistake somewhere, Crossover, Feel free to idea board with me!, Formatting tips super welcome, I won't post often but I'll do my best!, Maybe angst, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Other, Pre-Thanos, Shorter chapters but lots of chapters planned, Some Cursing, combat but not really graphic?, plot!!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23442391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Streetfirre/pseuds/Streetfirre
Summary: Today was a typical day in Amity Park. Just about everything went as it usually did:Box ghost being a nuisance? checkone or more stronger ghosts attack? checkValerie/The Red Huntress attacking him relentlessly? checkParents make a new invention that attacks him? You know it.What wasn't expected however, was the random purple aura that encircled him and teleported him to who knows where. Now he has to put up with cultists looking for King Phantom? Can't he catch a break just once in his after-life?
Relationships: feel free to recommend, none yet
Comments: 346
Kudos: 589





	1. Give this Man an A-Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know the deal.

**Danny’s Pov**  
There were a lot of things Danny expected to happen today. He expected that Boxy-- the Box Ghost as in-- would appear at a random point and ‘cause some minor annoyance, check. He expected for his parents to go into an anti-Phantom, or just anti-ghost rant, and/or create a new weapon that would shoot at him, double check and blessedly without a mention of Phantom being ripped apart molecule-by-molecule. He expected a slightly stronger, but still annoying ghost like Skulker, Johnny 13, or the Lunch Lady would attack again, which was unfortunately a triple check; talk about a busy day. He expected to miss or be late to a few, or all of his classes, check. He expected for The Red Huntress, that is to say Valerie, to be unrelenting in her hunt against him as he tried to avoid hurting her, check. What was not expected, however, was the weird purple aura that surrounded him abruptly after he had just finished up capturing Cujo, the goodest of ghost boys who was just a bit too playful, in the * Fenton Thermos.  


Further to that, he didn’t expect for the world to suddenly shift and become a weird light show. When the light faded and he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark room surrounded by a circle of cloaked men (Would it be wrong to assume they were all male? It’s hard to tell if the cloaks just make them look bulky or if they are all just men). A quick glance around helped him notice that there was a weird reddish paint (or at least, he hoped it was paint) on the ground that created a weird emblem. Much to his annoyance however, he couldn’t actually touch the paint as there was a tiny barrier between him and it. Maybe that was for the best though. After a moment of ADHD (I mean, I’m not diagnosed or anything, but sometimes I wonder if my restlessness is a half-ghost thing or an undiagnosed ADHD thing). The man in front of him snapped his fingers at him, as if he was trying to grab a child’s attention, which, rude.  


_“Listen to me boy, I asked you a question!”_  


Danny tried not to scrunch his face, but really, the guy’s breath was **rancid** , and that’s saying a lot since he put up with some of the nastiest ghosts ever. The man hissed and banged his hand on the ground, gathering Danny’s attention once more.  


_“Incompetent child! I asked you where the Ghost King was!”_  


Danny rolled his eyes before responding, in typical teen fashion: _“In a coffin next to his throne. Really, quite a **killer** view he has in there.”_ Danny swore he could see the man seethe even more at his response.  


_“Tell me then boy, why were you summoned and not him?”_  


Danny shrugged, not really all that sure he wanted to tell them the truth. Instead, he decided to go with something as close to the truth as he dared just in case they could see through lies. _“The King was overthrown and nobody has taken the crown yet, the summoning most likely picked a random ghost that was there among the time of his defeat.”_  


The man stood up and began to pace around the room, seeming more and more upset by the minute. _“Pray tell, then, how do the legends speak of King Phantom as the strongest yet you say he was usurped?”_  


Danny blinked in momentary shock before reminding himself that this guy was probably missing a few screws or exaggerating to throw him off guard. _“Legend? King Phantom? What are you talking about? Phariah Dark was--”_  


The man cut him off with a snarl. _“Not that bumbling fool. The legend speaks that 5,000 years ago, there was a tyrannical ghost king named Phariah Dark who conquered other realms to bring them into Hel. The legend then goes on to say that a mysterious ghost named Phantom defeated him and thus, through right of conquest, became the King of Hel and is the single most powerful ghost of all times and can rule all the other ghosts and they have to obey his commands.”_  


Danny groaned, of course it was another crazy cultist who wanted to take over the world. _“Look, dude, as a ghost who lives in the ghost zone, I can assure you that you either misinterpreted the legend or somebody wrote it down wrong. Phantom didn’t become king after defeating Phariah Dark. He abdicated the throne and now nobody is on it.”_ He made a mental note to let them keep thinking that Phantom was some 5,000 year old ghost since it would keep them off his trail. The man made a series of aggravated noises before ordering all of the other people in the room to leave and _‘tend to the prisoners’_ , which shot a cold bolt of dread through his core. What prisoners? Did someone need help? Before Danny could cycle through all his anxious thoughts, the man turned back towards him with a scowl.  


_“I will be back to talk to you later. Don’t even try leaving those wards. They completely block all your power and will zap you if you try going through it.”_ With that, the man left without another word. Danny stuck his tongue out at him as he left, but otherwise didn’t move until the door was shut and he couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore. Danny’s first thought was to try to go intangible and go through the ward, but uh, unfortunately, said ward was very much ghost proof. His next thought was to try hitting it, you know, like a smart person. Not unexpectedly, it shocked him. It wasn’t nearly as painful as Vlad’s electric attacks, but it was pretty high up there. He pretty quickly retracted his hand and held it to his chest while blowing on his hand to ease the pain.  


He glanced around the room to see if there was anything he could use to help himself, but the room was empty of anything except for the cameras in the top corners of the room. Unfortunately, his powers couldn’t reach out to them either, which left him with nothing. He found himself whistling something that was a creepy hybrid of _‘Star Spangled Banner’_ with _‘Who Let the Dogs Out’_ , which was only creepy since his voice echoed oddly due to both his ghostly voice and the room’s odd echoes.  


While sitting there and contemplating his existence, he heard a loud explosion from somewhere to the right. He found himself closing his eyes and trying to listen in, but he couldn’t make anything out except for vague shouts and gunfire. His core twisted in his chest in worry. He hoped nobody was hurt, even if they were weird cultists he didn’t want anyone to die. He waited, and waited, and waited… The gunfire and explosions only got closer and closer. He vaguely could make out the sound of metal doors getting kicked in. What could be causing that much chaos? Was it Sam and Tucker? Somehow he doubted it. As good of friends as they were he didn’t expect them to break into some cultists’ place, especially since he’s probably only been missing for an hour or two at most.  


Then, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, his door finally was blasted open to reveal his could-be-saviors: The Fricken Avengers:™:. A tense staring contest ensued before Iron-man-- THE IRON-MAN -- finally talked. _“Uhhh. Fury? Is there supposed to be a weird kid with white hair, pale skin, and….”_ he pauses for a moment as he looks closer, _“glowing green eyes here?”_ There’s a bit of silence for a moment before the person begins to reply. Danny can just barely make out what the comm piece from the supposed ‘Fury’ character was saying.  


_‘Stark. The only ones supposed to be there are the Hydra Agents and Banner as their prisoner.’_ The voice was kinda harsh and cranky. Danny got the feeling this guy doesn’t smile much.  


_“Yeah-- well, we got a floating kid in a weird bubble thing here. Do we...do we let him out? Leave him? I mean, I don’t really feel comfortable leaving a kid with them.”_ Iron-man proceeded to approach said bubble and was reaching out to poke it. Danny, after getting over his starstruck feeling, tried to warn him about the zap, but Tony touched the ward before he could. However, unlike Danny, Tony didn’t get shocked by the ward, but he didn’t attempt to reach through it.  


_‘There’s no time, Banner is the priority. If you got time after freeing Banner then you can come back for the kid. You aren’t jeopardizing the mission for him.’_ Danny frowned to himself, but understood the reasoning.  


_“Wha-- but, he’s a kid! A literal child!”_ Mr. Stark seemed pretty upset by the answer.  


Danny sputtered out a quick _“I’m not a little kid! I’m 17!”_ but was largely ignored.  


_‘It doesn’t matter, hurry and get Banner. You’re only wasting time by arguing.’_ Mr. Stark let out an angry huff and tried to argue, though by the sounds of it it seems the Fury guy had already hung up. Captain America himself gave him a sad look before heading out the door. None of the others looked very comfortable leaving him either. Mr. Stark seemed exceptionally angry about it.  


_“Look, kid, I promise you we’ll be back for you, okay?”_ Somehow Danny got the feeling he was assuring himself more than Danny. Danny just nodded, not wanting to stress him out even worse. With that, Mr. Stark took one last look before heading out after the rest of his team. Once they were gone, Danny let out a tired huff and sat back down in his spot. Seems he’ll be waiting a little longer. Back to counting cracks on the ceiling he goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ty for reading this far! Sorry this was so short! It somehow seemed a LOT longer while I was writing it on another tab. I apologize if my formatting isn't very phone friendly, I haven't really written a story on here before so I'm not quite sure how to do the formatting stuff nicely. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to talk to me about my ideas and certain things that may interest you for future chapters. I will warn you though, I probably won't get to post very often so this will be a slow moving story. Whenever I figure out how this site works I'll add more chapters in, it doesn't end here.
> 
> Please note for future chapters there may be some esperanto/other languages spoken, if it has a * beside it then that's me indicating there will be a translation in my notes! Also keep in mind this can extend to acronyms as well.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Inventions: (original and by me!)  
> Fenton Thermos - show compliant - Used to capture and store weakened ghosts.


	2. No Time to Phan-ic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's at least 40 cracks on the ceiling. He would know, he's had plenty of time to count them over and over again.
> 
> It's been 10 minutes since the Avengers left him to go find Dr. Banner, and that's way too long for a bored teenager to wait. However, all boredom is wiped out in a second once the alarm begins.

**Danny’s Pov**

About 10 minutes later all of the lights began to flash red and a robotic voice announced  _ “5 minutes until the base is destroyed, please evacuate immediately.” _ Danny let out a tiny squeak of panic, since he kinda couldn’t exactly flee from his little prison. He found himself panicking as he desperately searched around the room again for anything to help him get out. With a bit of panic, he found himself attempting to call for his friend, Wulf. 

* **_“Wulf, kie vi estas? Mi vere povus uzi iom da helpo!”_** It felt really weird to try and call through the ghost zone, but he was really, really grateful that Clockwork had helped try and teach him how to do it. Or, rather, he hoped he was doing it right since Wulf wasn’t coming to his call. A horrible thought struck him; what if Wulf was too far away to hear? Or wasn’t in the zone? Or maybe this ward thing blocked his call? Or worse, Wulf was hurt?

_ “2 minutes remaining.”  _ Danny felt his heart stop, he really didn’t have time to be feeling sorry for himself like this. He briefly thought back to how Tony could touch it no problem without getting zapped. While he had no intention of sharing his secret with these guys, he decided to try something. He focused on his right hand so that it was completely human while the rest of him was still in ghost form. He hesitantly reached down towards the bottom and prayed it wouldn’t still zap him. Luckily for him, it didn’t zap him. He managed to reach down through the thing and felt the now-dry ‘paint’ on the ground. He had a feeling he needed to break the paint line, so that’s what he tried. At first he tried rubbing it out, but whatever it was made out of was some pretty strong stuff. 

Then, he desperately tried scratching at it with his nails, but all he managed to do was hurt his fingers.  _ “One minute remaining.”  _ Danny grimaced and kept desperately trying to break the line, but nothing was working. Suddenly, he could hear…something? Coming down the hallway, it sounded kinda like blasters on a jet. Then, without warning, Tony Stark popped back into the room and his eyes landed straight on Danny. Mr. Stark rushed over and looked over the ward.

_ “I-- kid, do you have any idea how to get out of this? Any at all?”  _ He seemed extremely worried, probably due to the incoming explosion. Danny licked his lips to try and get rid of the dryness in his throat.

_ “I..I think maybe you need to break the paint underneath the bubble? I don’t really know.”  _ Mr. Stark nodded without missing a beat and immediately used his blaster to flat out  _ destroy  _ the paint at the bottom, which popped the bubble and let him out. Without a warning or anything, Tony immediately blasted a hole in the ceiling, picked Danny up, and jetted out.

_ “Woah! A little warning next time!”  _ Danny found himself glancing down at the building as they went into the air. Thankfully, they managed to just barely get out of the blast range and only felt a rush of heat. A tiny fear pricked Danny’s heart and he found himself hoping everyone got out okay-- and why was Mr. Stark alone? A voice dragged him out of his thoughts.

_ “Hopefully, there won’t be another time, kid. Are… are you okay?”  _ Danny looked back up to the face-plate of the suit where he assumed Stark’s eyes would be before smiling somewhat cheekily.

_ “Yeah man, kinda glad you kept your promise. Otherwise that might have been a way different reply.”  _ He could practically hear the scoff through the helm.

_ “Me? Abandon some kid to die? As if. I’m way too cool for that.”  _ Leave it to Stark to make the guy he just rescued roll his eyes.

_ “Really though...thanks, I was a bit worried there towards the end.”  _ Stark let out a soft sigh at that.

_ “Sorry kid, I had to obey orders, even if I really didn’t feel like leaving some kid in there with a bunch of Hydra goons running around. I meant it when I said I would come back for you.”  _

Danny let out a self-deprecating laugh at that  _ “At least you came back. Speaking of, is your team okay? I noticed they weren’t with you.”  _ Stark nodded his head.

_ “Yeah, they went ahead to get to the jet so they wouldn’t slow us down on the way out. You and I are en-route there now.”  _ Danny found himself nodding, though he wasn’t sure what he was gonna tell them when they inevitably asked him why he was there and why he glows in the dark. Danny found himself groaning tiredly, however Mr. Stark must have taken it as a groan of physical pain rather than situational pain and looked down in worry.

_ “Hey kid… you aren’t hurt are you? I can have Brucie look you over if you need--” _

Danny shook his head very quickly. Even if he was injured he doesn’t really trust doctors and could always trust his healing factor to kick in later.  _ “I’m okay Mr. Stark, I’m just more exasperated more than anything about today is all. Feelin’ kinda  _ **_dead_ ** _ on my feet if you catch my drift.”  _ Mr. Stark just shook his head.

_ “Still, it wouldn’t hurt to let Bruce look you over.”  _

Danny shook his head, refusing once again.  _ “I don’t really like doctors, sorry.” _

_ “Your health matters kid. Just, I promise he won’t hurt you and won’t be invasive about it--”  _ Danny shook his head again, refusing to agree to it. He had half the mind to be worried that Stark would insist, but thankfully Stark seemed to drop the matter, even though Danny could still somewhat sense the man’s worry and stubbornness about it. The two flew in silence for only a minute more before they landed on the still-moving jet. Danny found himself being sat down in a chair just as the door closed. Immediately, Stark’s faceplate opened up and he found himself cornered by Bruce Banner, who was thankfully unharmed, and Tony Stark as they looked him over for injuries.

_ “I’m okay-- really,”  _ he found himself saying for the millionth time as he swatted away the concerned hands. It didn’t help that the rest of the team, excluding Hawkeye who was piloting, was watching him like a  **hawk** , ha, get it? No? Fair enough. Some of the looks were more concerned; like Stark and Banner. One of them, Mr. Captain America, was looking at him curiously and with some concern, but man, was Black Widow looking at him with nothing but pure, unbridled distrust. He could tell that the moment Stark and Banner backed off she would swoop in and begin to interrogate him. This was immediately confirmed as she swiftly approached and nudged the two men away.

_ “Look, we got questions kid and we need you to answer them.”  _ She gave him one of the sharpest glares he had ever received in his  **after-life** and found himself half-pressed to sing like a canary. Of course, he didn’t keep his secret this long for nothing.

_ “Uh, I’ll try to answer them? I’m not really sure I can answer when I don’t even know what the question is yet.”  _ He probably could have done it a little less sassily, but hey, teenagers right? Her resulting glare probably meant she wasn’t too amused with him, which made him shrink in on himself a bit.

_ “Why were you there?” _ Quick and to the point it seems. Another 10 points to our resident ghost child for guessing that was coming.

_ “I was sitting there, minding my own business, when a bright purple glow happened and the next thing I knew, I was in a bubble in a room surrounded by dudes in cloaks.”  _ It really wasn’t a lie. In fact, it was the entire truth, just, not mentioning the extra little stuff.

_ “Right... Does the ‘purple glow’ explain why you’re literally glowing? Or was that a thing you already did?” _

Danny found himself shrugging.  _ “Well, I mean, I sometimes glow? It varies.”  _ Black Widow gave him a long, hard stare before seeming to accept it as a fact and backed off a little bit. She asked him several more questions after that:  _ ‘What did they want with you?’ _ ,  _ ‘What is your name?’ _ ,  _ ‘What are you?’ _ , and many, many more on the giant list of questions that made him shrink a little with how personal some of them got. When he told them he was a ghost, they just flat out didn’t believe him and even laughed it off, much to his chagrin. After what felt like an eternity of questioning, she finally completely backed off, though he often caught her eyes lingering on him, analyzing him. He didn’t really blame her since he was a stranger on their ship that was held captive by cultist-nazi dudes. With time to spare on lingering dread, he found himself curling up in his chair and hugging his knees. Not out of fear or anything, but ‘cause he was really tired but didn’t wanna risk falling asleep. 

He could practically feel Dr. Banner eye-ing him down in worry, but didn’t want to announce it lest he get hassled for a medical check-up again. The team, minus Banner for probably being too ‘sympathetic’, went into the cockpit, closed the door, and were most likely discussing what to do with him. After a short break, they came back in and Stark sat down across from him.  _ “So, kid. You got a phone number we can call to let your folks know you’re okay? We wanna take you back to the compound since Fury is being so anal about your presence. I promise nothing bad will happen, just some more questions to assure the man you’re just a perfectly normal, glowing kid.”  _ Oh boy. That could be a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter done. I’d like to take this time to thank everyone for the shocking amount of support! I didn’t expect to see any real results for weeks, but I noticed that the same day I made the first post, that I had gotten quite a few hits and kudos! It really helped inspire me to write more. So thus, I wrote another chapter and posted one earlier than planned for you guys! I love each and every one of you, but I wanna give the biggest shoutout to brenda1810018 for being my first ever Kudos and for OwOtheOriginal for being my first to bookmark/watch. Just like before, feel free to comment and recommend or ask stuff! (I accidentally set it where I had to approve comments before, but I got that fixed)  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Here’s a translation for you guys so you don’t have to translate it:
> 
>  **Esperanto**  
>  “Wulf, kie vi estas? Mi vere povus uzi iom da helpo!” = Wulf, where are you? I could really use some help!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	3. Director Fur(r)y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's a teenager left to do when cornered by a cranky eye-patch wearing man? Why, make jokes and annoy him of course! Add in partial 'ghostiness' and that's just a recipe for chaos.

**Danny’s Pov**

It took him a solid 40 minutes to convince the group that he really was a dead ghost teen and he couldn’t really give them a phone number to call his parents. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that he was absolutely confident Tony would hunt him down through various films and files just to harass him at Amity Park, he would’ve just went intangible and jetted off at his earliest convenience. As he was nodding off, he noticed Mr. Stark stand up and head into the cockpit holding his comm, he probably was gonna get into a fight with ‘Fury’ again. He closed his eyes and pretended he wasn’t about to listen in.

_ “You want us to go to the Helicarrier? With the kid? Look-- I know he said he was a ghost and all that, but he’s still a kid.” _

There was almost no pause before the harsh response chimed out.  _ ‘Look Stark, we have no clue what we’re dealing with here. I’m not letting some dangerous, unknown thing run amok on Earth without warning.’  _

He had to fight himself from smiling as Stark snapped back at ‘Fury’. One of his childhood heroes not only got him out of that bubble, but he also came to his defense without any hesitation. What a dad-bro. Stark let out a very tired sigh before continuing  _ “He hardly looks dangerous. He literally looks, like, 14 at best.”  _ He had half the sense to be insulted at being called 14 since he was 17, but knew saying something would just get him in trouble.

_ ‘Stark. If he’s a ghost like he says, that means he’s probably a lot older than 14.’ _

_ “Look patches--” _

_ ‘Do not argue Stark. I want that ghost kid at the helicarrier  _ **_yesterday_ ** _ , do I make myself clear?’  _ Stark was rubbing his face while glaring at the floor.

_ “Fine, but don’t hurt the kid. Regardless of how long he’s existed, he still looks like a kid.”  _ Danny heard a grunted affirmative and figured the call had ended. Not long after that, Stark returns to the room looking annoyed. Stark pointedly sat  _ beside _ Danny. Danny noted that he was probably doing it to prove that he, as in Danny, was harmless. Then, Dr. Banner sat across from Danny, and then Captain America sat on Danny’s other side. He got the odd mixed-feeling that they were either surrounding him so he couldn’t leave, or trying to prove he was not a threat. He could really feel the love. 

The anxiety lasted a whole six minutes before he got bored again. What, can you blame him? He decides to open conversation with them just to pass the time.  _ “So, uh.”  _ Real smooth Danny, real smooth.

_ “Yeah?”  _ He could see the corners of Stark’s mouth tilt, he’s clearly barely resisting the urge to tease him for his ‘intelligent’ wording. 

_ “I was wondering, what exactly…. What happens from here?”  _ While it wasn’t exactly good for the slowly rising panic, he figured it would be suspicious if he  _ didn’t  _ ask the question. He wasn’t too keen on letting them know about his stronger hearing.

_ “Well.”  _ Stark began before pausing to consider his answer,  _ “Right now we’re heading to * S.H.I.E.L.D. to prove to Director Fury you aren’t a threat to the world. After that, once he deems you safe enough, we’ll take you wherever it is you’re wanting us to drop you off at. Unless ghosts have a quicker way to travel.”  _ Danny nodded to himself at that, though he wasn’t so sure it would be as easy as Stark made it sound. 

_ “Well, we can travel through natural portals and just go through the ghost zone. Time moves a lot differently in there, or rather, not at all.”  _ At that, both scientists gave him a really weird look. He wasn’t quite sure if the look was about the portals, the ghost zone, or the time difference though, so he just decided to clarify it all.  _ “I’m guessing you don’t have an idea what I’m talking about, do you?”  _ Both men looked immensely curious, so he just sighed and answered their silent questions.  _ “Natural portals are temporary rifts between the two realms that ghosts use to travel to and from the Ghost Zone. However, certain ghosts can create their own by slashing through the barrier.” _

Banner, for the first time since examining him, spoke up first  _ “Wouldn’t that be dangerous? Opening the veil between two realms without any safety measures?” _

Danny shook his head as he was quick to correct the man,  _ “They never stay open very long, so if you can’t create them yourself you need to be very selective when you go in or out.”  _ Bruce nodded at this, seemingly somewhat appeased, but not entirely.  _ “If it helps any,”  _ Danny continued,  _ “very few ghosts can actually pull it off. It’s not a very easy skill to manage, and even if you think you got it down it’s easy to make a mistake and misjudge the distance, so very few ghosts do it.”  _ That did the trick, at least, for the most part to ease the good doctor’s worries. 

Stark spoke up again.  _ “What about the Ghost Zone? What exactly is that?” _

Danny shook his head with a smile  _ “Exactly what it sounds like. It’s another realm where ghosts usually live. The place is filled with ectoplasm, which keeps ghosts in the zone stable and healthy. Another name for the place is ‘Hel’ and no, I mean one ‘L’ not two.”  _ Stark seemed to take that in stride.

_ “So-- ectoplasm is?”  _ Or, mostly in stride. Maybe more like a skip?

_ “It’s the life-energy of any and all ghosts. Consider it our blood, our soil, and our oxygen.”  _ That was pretty much a close enough description, and it’s not like a ghost is gonna pop up out of nowhere and tell them otherwise.

Banner rejoined the conversation.  _ “You mentioned a time difference? How exactly does it work? Is it like time zones or something else?”  _

_ “Something else. You can be in there for days, and you come back out and you’ve only been gone for a couple hours. It can be a little hard to keep track of time sometimes. Sometimes though, it feels like just the opposite. You’re only in there for like 5 minutes, but when you come back out it’s been an hour! It all depends on which portal you can in from and which one you leave from.”  _ The two men looked a little surprised at that, so he added in  _ “The portals break the rules of reality, so the time you actually come out is a bit wonky.”  _ They nodded at that, so that might’ve made more sense.

Stark shook his head  _ “I feel like I have a million more questions now.”  _

Danny laughed at that  _ “You and me both. You and me both.”  _ He got a bit of a weird look at that, but refused to elaborate. If he explained that he was a defect they’d try to look too far into it and it might risk his secret. An hour or two later after he nearly fell asleep twice, they finally landed on the Helicarrier. Everybody else collectively stood up and stretched, all of them were probably just as cramped up as he was. Stark motioned for him to stand with them, which he did.  _ “So uh, you’re not gonna leave me by myself with this Director dude, right?”  _

_ “Don’t tell me you’re scared of Fury.” _

Danny mentally scoffed at that, as if he could be scared of someone that probably didn’t have any weapons that could hurt him.  _ “No, I just don’t fancy being near someone I’ve never met before.” _

_ “You seem fine with us.”  _ Banner offered up softly.

_ “You guys are superheroes and  _ **_the_ ** _ Avengers, I can’t really bring myself to be scared of you guys unless you actively threaten me.”  _ Which, while he figured he could probably handle most of them since the majority don’t have magic, would still suck. Stark seemed kind of amused (if just slightly pleased that even a ghost knows about them and considers them heroes) while Banner looked somewhat flustered and happy (it really is nice not to be considered a monster or to not have someone be scared of you). Stark cleared his throat, clearing any mushiness before it could escalate.

_ “Alright Casper, follow me. I promise I won’t duck out on you unless absolutely necessary, okay?”  _ Danny nodded and the group headed off the jet. For a bit the group traveled together until the hall split down three ways, from there, everyone else split up down one path while Tony and Danny went down another. What felt like 40 doors later, they arrived at a room and entered what looked like an interrogation room. He tried not to feel nervous about it, but it wasn’t really a very comforting feeling to know you were about to get questioned to  **Hel-and-back** after already enduring Black Widow’s questionnaire. Sitting at the table was a tall, broad, bald headed man with an eye-patch. Danny wasn’t really sure what made him do it, but he blamed his lack of filter for his greeting.

_ “So-- you’re Director Furry?”  _ He could’ve sworn the man’s eye twitched at that.

_ “I...beg your pardon?”  _ Now would probably be a good time to invest in a mouth filter. Or not, whatever  **floats** your boat.

_ “You’re forgiven”  _ Danny really couldn’t help himself, even if it was a little juvenile.

_ “You and I both know that’s not what I meant.”  _ Fury snapped. Tony dragged up another chair and sat at the edge of the table so he could see both of them easily enough, and was  **iron** ically enough in Fury’s blind spot. (Wow, you know it’s a problem when your thoughts are plagued with puns galore).

Danny cleared his throat and tried again, deciding he should at the very least be just a little professional for this.  _ “Right, right, sorry. I make puns when I’m nervous.” _

_ “You’ve been making puns all day.”  _ Tony said while trying to hide his concern.

_ “They’re not gonna  _ **_die_ ** _ out anytime soon Mr. Stark.”  _ Danny grinned.

Fury coughed and cleared his throat before giving Danny a rather sharp look and gestured towards the chair in front of him. Right. Danny sat down across from him and tried not to fidget from the glare alone.  _ “I am going to ask you a series of questions. I ask that you do not lie and answer as much as possible. Should we deem you a threat we will, and I mean  _ **_will_ ** _ find a way to put an end to you. Do you understand me?” _

Danny grimaced at that, but nodded again.  _ “Crystal Clear.” _ It kind of became the same song and dance he had endured with Black Widow, only, even though the Director tried to be, he wasn’t even half as intimidating as Black Widow was. Seriously, that is a  **scary** woman. The interrogation lasted for 2 hours, and by that point Danny was getting a bit antsy, knowing good and well his friends and/or sister were probably panicking by now.  _ “So, uh, Mr. Furry sir--.”  _ Ah yes, the famous one-eyed glare.

_ “That is not my name, I suggest you show a little respect.” _

_ “Yeah, well, you haven’t exactly earned my respect with the whole ‘denying my human rights’ thing.” _

_ “You aren’t a human.”  _ Oh wow, he sounds like he took a page from the G.I.W.

_ “I used to be.” _

_ “Are and used to be are two different things.” _

_ “Really? You  _ **_are_ ** _ a grouch, and you  _ **_used_ ** _ to be a grouch. I’m convinced you came out of the womb with a scowl and an eye patch.”  _ It kind of went back and forth like that for another minute or so before Danny sighed.  _ “Look-- I know I’ve not particularly endeared myself to you, but I ought to get going.” _

Fury scowled and immediately stood up.  _ “And why is that?” _

Danny made a placating gesture with both of his hands up  _ “Ghosts get tired and cranky if they’re out of the ghost zone or their haunts for too long. I need to go recharge.”  _ That wasn’t really a lie, considering he wanted to crawl in bed and not get up for another month or two.

_ “Fine. Don’t think you’re off the hook though. Next time we meet we’ll know how to deal with your kind.”  _ With that, Danny gave him a mocking salute and portaled the  **Hel** out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah. You guys sure move quick when it comes to new stories. By the first day I had already hit over 100 hits and over 20 kudos. By my second, I had over 200 hits and over 40 kudos. You guys really made my week! I really wanted to give you guys a post a day, but I knew I’d burn myself out if I did that. So I resolved to gate myself 1 update a week if I could. However!! I wanted to give you guys a surprise early chapter!
> 
> Also, to those of you who didn’t see the comments from Chapter 2, I’ll go ahead and let you know that Thursdays are my official update days! I will very rarely post between Thursdays unless it’s a special occasion of some sorts or if I plan to be away on a Thursday and will miss that day. Ty all for your continued support! I wanted to try and attempt to do a thank you present with an early chapter every 100, but at this rate that may be a bit much if I don’t wanna burn myself out. So since we just got 200, my next double post will be at 400 hits!
> 
> Just like always, feel free to comment/recommend ideas/or ask questions! I would more than be excited to chat with you guys and hear your thoughts.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Here are the full names of the acronyms you saw:
> 
> S.H.I.E.L.D. = Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division  
> G.I.W. = Guys In White   
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	4. Who Ya Gonna Call?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
> We all knew good and well Tony wouldn't pass up the chance to investigate stuff further. 

**Tony’s POV**

After the kid had left, he found himself staring at where the weird green portal had stood for just a few seconds. Fury was going off in a tirade to his right, but he heard this same type of tantrum so many times he could already guess every word coming out of that man’s mouth. Tony stood up and stretched, grimacing as his back popped.  _ “--Stark.”  _ Tony looked at Director ‘Furry’ with a smug smile.

_ “Yeah, totally. I’ll get right to that.” _

_ “You tuned me out, didn’t you?” _

_ “I also hacked your databases again.” _

_ “Stark!” _

_ “I’m kidding. Mostly.”  _ He winked at Fury before he started to head out the door.

_ “Stark! Listen to me, I mean it, I want you to--”  _ The man’s eye was twitching again, man did Tony live for the term ‘malicious compliance’.

_ “Yeah, I know. Same dance, different song. You wanna know more about ghosts and about the kid in general. During your investigation I already got several possible hits about ghosts and him.”  _ Which really wasn’t a lie. Danny had asked him to linger so he wasn’t stuck alone with Fury, the kid never said he couldn’t do a quick search of him. Tony had no intentions of bringing any of his findings up to Fury until he confirmed a few things for himself.

_ “I expect--” _

_ “You can expect me to get back to you later. Right now I got some Shawarma calling to me and I’m not willing to ignore it.”  _ Honestly, Tony wondered to himself if it was normal for people to enjoy getting away with angering their ‘boss’es so much. Fury was flat out steaming, and honestly he was having a hard time not laughing. That kid had absolutely ruined Fury’s day, and Stark really wanted the kid to come back one day and do it again. It was hilarious to watch. Tony left with a mock salute not too un-like what the ghost kid did. Even halfway down the hall he could hear Fury throwing a fit.

Tony took the scenic route back to the tower, well, the suit route. As soon as he was back through the doors he gunned it for his lab. The  **last** thing he wanted to deal with right now was Steve or one of the others stopping him. Bruce though, Bruce can come bother him since he’s the least annoying and is a science bro.  _ “Friday, elevator to the lab.” _

_ "Yes sir. Shall I actually order you shawarma while I’m at it?” _

_ “You know me so well. See if the others want any too, might as well.” _

_ “Of course sir. Your usual request?” _

_ “Yep.”  _ He said, popping the ‘p’ for emphasis.

_ “On it.” _

_ “Thanks Fri, you’re a life-saver.” _

_ “Always sir.”  _ Tony hopped in the elevator and rode it down. Once in, he went straight to his lab.

_ “Friday, move the information we found to the screens. I also want you to try and find anything else on both ghosts, Amity Park, and Danny Phantom.” _

_ “On it boss.”  _ Tony quickly started up some music to jam out to while the pictures came on screen. He hummed to himself as he looked it over. Every fight, every sighting, every historical record… Wait, historical record? He was in a gladiator fight in ancient Greece? There’s absolutely no way. The kid looked and talked like any other teen, even if he was dressed super weirdly. No gladiator would wear a jumpsuit! Were jumpsuits even around during that age? Probably not. He found himself reading through the other historical times, finding himself a bit mystified. The 1600s, too, had Phantom in it, it detailed him scaring some boy and his mother….Another one shows him at the Salem witch trial being fended off with...blood blossoms? 

_ “Friday, make a note about blood blossoms hurting ghosts.”  _

_ “Of course boss. Shall I also make a timeline?” _

_ “Yeah, that too.”  _ Tony picked up a mug and went to take a sip, only to frown as he realized it was empty.  _ “Is Peter here?” _

_ “Yes, sir, he’s in his lab working on his homework.” _

_ “Great, ask him if he’ll bring me some coffee.” _

_ “On it sir.”  _ A pause entails.  _ “He said ‘Yes! I mean, of course! Right away!’ and proceeded to trip on his chair.” _

_ “He okay?” _

_ “Yes sir, he’s okay. If not he’ll heal through it in seconds.” _

_ “Right.”  _ Tony hummed along to the song as he glanced through various information.  _ “Hey-- Friday. Why does the name ‘Fenton’ sound so familiar?”  _

_ “They are ‘official’ ghost hunters and researchers, sir. They are based in Amity Park, Illinois and you--” _

_ "Wait, hold that thought. Did you say Amity Park?” _

_ “Yes sir, Amity Park, Illinois.” _

_ “Isn’t that where Phantom is based?” _

_ “Yes, sir, that is where his most recent and most occuring appearances are.” _

_ "I want you to start grabbing information on the Fentons too.” _

_ "Right away.”  _ It was about that time that Peter stumbled in, carrying the coffee.

_ “Mr. Stark! I got your coffee!”  _ Tony had to hold back a fond huff, leave it to that kid to look so excited just to deliver coffee. Tony made a mental note to appreciate that Peter set the cup down in reach instead of handing it to him.

_ “Thanks kid.”  _ He took a long swig of coffee, enjoying the taste and energy. He noticed Peter was fidgeting, so he figured he’d bite the bullet and offer so the kid didn’t have to ask.  _ “Hey, kid, you wanna sit with me and help me figure this out?”  _ The strangled squeak and excited nod almost broke his composure.  _ “Great, come over here, I don’t bite.”  _

_ “So, what exactly are you working on Mr. Stark?”  _

_ “Well, you see, before that, lemme ask you this: what do you know about ghosts?” _

_ “I--ghosts? Those aren’t real--” _

_ “According to a ghost kid I met, that’s not true.” _

_ "You met a ghost?! Mr. Stark, were you hurt? Dying?!” _

_ “I’m fine, Peter, don’t fuss. I’m fine. If anything he was the one that was in trouble, not me.”  _ Peter gave him a confused look.  _ “When we went to rescue Bruce from Hydra, we found this ghost kid in a 'magic' bubble that he couldn’t get out of. Said something about it blocking ghost powers? Whatever the case, he was kinda stuck.”  _ Peter nodded again, seemingly content to listen first.  _ “Well, Fury wants us to look into this kid in particular, and ghosts in general, to figure out how to ‘deal with them’ should the need arise.” _

_ “Right, so, I don’t really know anything about ghosts, but I’m sure M.J would! She knows all kinds of random facts, especially if it’s a controversial topic.” _

_ “How are ghosts controversial?” _

_ “The whole ‘what happens after death’ debate mixed in with a smack of ‘are they actually real’ debate.” _

_ “Fair enough. Call her up.” _

_ “Right….right now?” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ “Oh, okay.”  _ Peter quickly checked his pockets for his phone, only to realize he completely derped and left it down in his lab.  _ “Um, Mr. Stark?” _

_ “You left it in your lab, didn’t you.” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ "Fair enough. You mind going and nabbing it?” _

_ “On it!”  _ Peter immediately darted out of the door and into the elevator.

_ "And don’t rush! We got all the time in the world!” _

_ “Yes Mr. Stark!”  _ Tony found himself shaking his head in fond exasperation as he turned back to his computer and took another drink of coffee out of his ‘Iron-Dad’ cup that the rest of the team had gotten for him as a joke after they met Peter. He had responded in turn by getting each of them their own mug, which also included Peter and Pepper’s own mugs. ‘Captain Booty’, ‘Bird-brain, 'Goldilocks', ‘Science Bro’, ‘Ra Ra Rasputin’, ‘Dat Boi’, and ‘The REAL Boss’.

_ “Sir, I’ve found the phone number of the Fenton residence. Would you like to open a call with them?” _

_ “Yeah actually… I think I would.” _ The phone only rang twice before a jovial man’s voice answered.

_ "Fenton residence! Jack Fenton speaking, if you’ve got a ghost, we can capture it!”  _ Tony had to wince a bit at the volume.

_ “Hey, this is Tony Stark, and I got a few questions for ya’.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Welcome back again, I hoped you liked my meme, (I made that!!!) and, well, I have a tiny confession to make. I have to admit to you guys, I am stockpiling future chapters and holding them hostage. I do this for 4 reasons: 
> 
> 1.) if I get sick, hurt, fall behind at work, or something else like that I still have chapters to fall back on.  
> 2.) I constantly change and go back and add stuff. For example, this entire chapter was added in AFTER chapter 7 (now chapter 8) had already been finished! It was a last minute decision, really, one I made at 390 hits and was scrambling to do before 400.  
> 3.) It gives me time to double check myself for mistakes since I don’t have an editor or anything.  
> 4.) I want somewhat consistent updates so that I don’t get into a funk. I’ve learned that with me it’s best to see marginal progress and see how people react. I wanna make sure you guys enjoy every chapter, and the best way to see that is to take it bit by bit and let you react accordingly.
> 
> But! In good news, it means I have chapters to give to you guys even when I’m having a bad week or two for writing. I really want you guys to enjoy this story. As always, please feel free to comment and share ideas or concerns!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Friday - Show compliant - an A.I (artificial intelligence) designed by Tony Stark that resides in the Avengers Tower and within his suit.


	5. Home at L(e)ast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're back with Danny!

**Danny’s Pov**

He was finally home. He half expected to open the door and have his parents or sister rip into him for being gone so long without telling them, honestly. However, when he opened the front door, all he heard were the sounds of ‘science’ from downstairs. Well, at least he won’t get in trouble. He took about three steps into the house when the alarm went off and produced an anti-ghost weapon to shoot at him, as per usual. With an apathetic dodge caused by this happening one too many times, he made his way to the kitchen to get a drink. Just in time for dear old mom to walk up the stairs with dadster in tow.

_ “Dann-o! Hey! We just finished working on repairs to the * Fenton Ecto-Shield Breaker 9000!”  _

_ “Uhh, 9000?”  _ Danny asked hesitantly.

_ “It sounds cooler called that.”  _ Ah, so typical Jack Fenton naming trends. His dad went on to go on about how great it was, for them as in.  _ “Think about it! With this, no ghost can hide away in a little shield of their own and prevent capture. We can just shatter their shields and exhaust them in the process! It’s great!”  _ Danny let out a mental groan. Just what he needed, something new for his parents to use against him.

_ “Maybe with this we can finally capture that no good Phantom.”  _ His mom chimed in. His dad grinned and joined in the  _ ‘let’s talk about dissecting our son in front of him cause we don’t know it’s him’ _ game, which feels just as unenjoyable the hundredth time as it did the first time. He knows it’s not against him, but he can’t help the tiny prickle of worry that his parents  **would** hate him if they found out the truth.

_ “So uh, what’s for dinner?”  _ He figured that was a safe enough topic to avoid any talk about ghosts.

_ "Well, we were gonna have hamburgers but they became ecto-hamburgers.” _

_ " _ _ Like the ecto-sausages?”  _ Not again.

_ " _ _ Yes, but somehow even more murderous.”  _ Just what he needed after a day of ghost fighting. He let out a tired sigh and made a note to carry a * Fenton Wrist Ray in case his parents were near and he needed to fend off a hamburger… Do other kids have to say that? Probably not, but he wouldn’t be a Fenton if it wasn’t a genuine fear.

_ “I’m gonna go upstairs and get some homework done.”  _ Danny, for once, genuinely intended to actually do homework. 

_ “Okay sweetie. We’ll holler at you when we come back with food. You want anything from the Nasty Burger?”  _ His mom added as he was turning towards the stairs.

_ “Oh, uh. Not hamburgers, that’s for sure.”  _ His parents let out a weak chortle at that. He had a good feeling they were in the same mood.  _ “Then again, I guess they don’t really have much else aside from cheeseburgers and hamburgers.” _

His dad looked thoughtful for a moment.  _ “If we get cheeseburgers, maybe they won’t realize what we’re eating because of the cheese?”  _

_ “Jack, dear, cheeseburgers don’t look that much different from hamburgers.” _

_ “It’s the principle! Like, a mask!”  _ His dad added in excitedly. Leave it to him to bring up superheroes. Then again, this is the same man that still believes in Santa Claus. 

His mom let out a resigned sigh and shook her head with a smile.  _ “Alright, but when the hamburgers attack us for eating cheeseburgers, I blame you.” _

_ “Bah, we’ll just destroy them anyways! We’re Fentons! We can handle any ghost!”  _ And once more the conversation shifts to dangerous territory. Danny took that as a sign to be the perfect time to sneak up the stairs while his parents were distracted. Once in his room he immediately flopped onto his bed and gazed up at the sticker stars on his ceiling.

_ “Geez. I just wis-- I mean, I would  _ **_like_ ** _ to know exactly what was going on at that base and how they summoned me. Is there a way to prevent it?”  _ Danny found himself scrunching his face as he tried to think, but gave up pretty quickly since he knew for a fact that he doesn’t know anything about cultism. He resolved to ask Sam or Jazz later-- speaking of, where was Jazz? She’s usually there to greet him for dinner. He got up and knocked on her door, but didn’t get an answer. So instead he texted her and asked her where she was. Almost immediately he got a reply.

_ ‘At a friend’s house. Spending the night. We’re studying for a big test tomorrow. Why, is everything okay? Did mom and dad blow up the microwave again?’ _

Danny let out a little laugh at that, remembering when said incident occurred. He sent a quick text back  _ ‘Nah, just was wondering where you were.’  _

She sent a thumbs up in reply before adding  _ ‘Alright, but don’t hesitate to message me if you need me, okay?’ _

Smiling to himself, he sent back a thumbs up and closed his phone. For all the stubbornness and nosiness, he was really glad he had Jazz to look out for him. He did a little bit of homework, as planned, before he checked his other messages to see if he missed anything else in the last few hours. Expectedly, he had like, 100 missed messages from Sam and Tucker. Unexpectedly however, was the news notification on his phone. Not necessarily having a notification really, but rather what was on said notification. After reading it, he forced himself to read over it again to see if he was mistaken. Then, he let out a very tired groan and crawled back in bed.  _ “You gotta be kidding me.” _

**Ghost** **or Goof?**

**The Avengers teamed up once more to deal with a Hydra threat**

**this time however, said threat was located in Chicago, Illinois.**

**The Hydra members had kidnapped Bruce Banner, also known**

**as the Hulk. It is assumed they wanted to re-create the experiment.**

**Surprisingly however, there was another person trapped in the**

**facility as well. Through efforts, they have deduced the person**

**to be none other than the alleged “hero” of Amity Park,IL,**

**Danny Phantom. It is unknown what they wanted with him,**

**and if he is truly a “ghost” as the residents of Amity claim.**

Great. Just great. He accidentally made national television, again. Could this day get any worse? Wait no. He just jinxed himself. Four things happened all at once after the one damning thought went through. 1.) The home phone rang, which wasn’t all that bad, even though the number was strangely from New York. 2.) His ghost sense went off, which probably meant either Boxy was back or another ghost was causing problems and he needed to handle it. 3.) He could hear a loud explosion from downstairs, assumedly the lab. 4.) An ecto-hamburger was snarling at him and brandishing a kitchen knife like some kind of mugger in an alley. Just a typical Tuesday in Amity Park for one Danny Fenton. 

He used the wrist ray to blast and destroy the ecto-hamburger and quickly dashed down the stairs as it puffed into a mix of smoke and the remains of a hamburger. By the time he reached the bottom, the phone had stopped. He quickly popped his head through the door that led to the basement.  _ “Mom, you guys okay?” _

His mother’s voice answered him.  _ “Yes, we’re fine! Jack just knocked over the Specter Speeder while trying to shoot the phone! Sorry if we disturbed you during your homework!”  _ Ah, so that solves two problems.

_ “Can I head out for a bit? Sam said something ‘bout a tree needing protecting and demanded I come help her!” He hollered down. He resolved to tell Sam to defend his little white lie. _

_ “Did you finish your homework?”  _ Aw man. Well, mostly?

_ “Most of it!”  _ He knew good and well his mom would call him out and check it herself at this point. They’ve been arguing about his grades and homework a lot lately. It was probably safer to be honest about it.

_ “Most of it isn’t good enough! I love you dear, but the tree’s gonna have to wait.”  _ He let out a low groan and made a note to quietly sneak out and back in. Shouldn’t be too much harder than usual, minus the new and improved Anti-Ghost Alarm in the house immediately sensing him every time he swapped. He returned to his room, locked the door, and crawled out the window like a normal teenager. Once he climbed down the side of the house, he dashed into a nearby alley and looked around before transforming.  _ “Goin’ Ghost!”  _

From there, he quickly flew into the air and looked around. No ghosts immediately attacked him, which was just a tad bit weird.  _ “Hello? Any bad guys out here?  _ **_Hel_ ** _ -loooooo?”  _ Again, no ghosts responded. That was kinda weird. He circled the town, being sure to check all the hotspots, yet no ghost showed up. Just as he was about to give up and call it a day, he saw a shadow move across an alley. He quickly dashed over to see what it was. Sure enough, it was Wulf! He quickly landed with a smile. _ * “Wulf! He, paĉjo! Kiel vi fartas?”  _ Wulf almost immediately yanked him into a hug and licked him, which earned a laugh. When he pulled back he wiped the slobber off and smiled up at Wulf, only to frown when he noticed Wulf’s sad look. *  _ “Kio malĝustas?”  _

_ * “Mi aŭdis, ke vi bezonas mian helpon pli frue kaj mi ne estis tie.”  _ Danny let out a small ‘oh’ at that before shaking his head and trying to assure Wulf he wasn’t upset.

_ * “Estas bone! Mi eliris bone, do ne zorgu.”  _ He gestured at himself to show Wulf that he was, in fact, fine. Wulf gave him an unimpressed, kicked-puppy look.

*  _ “Rigardu, mi promesas al vi, ke mi ne vundis min.”  _ He patted Wulf on the arm. It went on about like that for another two minutes before the two just took the time to catch up and see how the other was doing. It wasn’t much later that Danny remembered he had homework to catch up on, and waved off to Wulf as he rushed home and prayed he snuck back in before his parents noticed he had snuck out. He let out a silent prayer, climbed the side of the house, and popped his head through the window. Just in time to see his mother’s disappointed and angry glare. Oh crud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone! I hope you're all staying very healthy and doing well. if not, I hope things get better for you. I wanted to thank you all again for being here and showing support to my story, and as always, feel free to chat with me, ask questions, or make recommendations!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Here’s the translations for you guys so you don’t have to translate it:
> 
> Esperanto:  
> “Kio malĝustas?” = What's wrong?
> 
> “Mi aŭdis, ke vi bezonas mian helpon pli frue kaj mi ne estis tie.” = I heard you needed my help earlier and I wasn't there.
> 
> “Estas bone! Mi eliris bone, do ne zorgu.” = It's good! I came out okay so don't worry.
> 
> “Rigardu, mi promesas al vi, ke mi ne vundis min.” = Look, I promise you I wasn't hurt in the slightest.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Inventions: (original and by me!)
> 
> Fenton Ecto-Shield Breaker 9000 - added in by me but influenced heavily from the show - used to shatter a ghost’s shield so they’re easier to attack.  
> Fenton Wrist Ray - show compliant - allows non ghosts to fire ectoplasmic beams at ghosts so they can actually hurt them.  
> Specter Speeder - show compliant - A vehicle made by the Fentons to travel through the ghost zone quickly.


	6. Gr(ow)nded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mom found out, how much worse could this day get?
> 
> Spoiler: a lot

**Danny’s POV**

_ “Uhhh, hey! Mom! Surprise seeing you here!”  _ This day has officially reached peak crappiness. (I take it back, mom is the scariest person in the universe, and that’s saying a lot since I fought the Fright Knight and Phariah Dark!)

_ “Daniel James Fenton--” ( _ Uh oh, I got the full name treatment. I’m doomed.)  _ “--just what do you think you were doing?”  _ He gave her a meek, sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

_ "Getting some fresh air?”  _ Her gaze sharpened at that.

_ “I see. Well, I don’t think I need to say it now, do I?” _

Danny sighed  _ “I’m grounded?” _

_ “You bet’cha. Now come downstairs and eat. We’ll talk more of your punishment after dinner.”  _ With that, his mom left his room and waited for him to finish crawling through the window. Seemed he was getting the disappointed-mom-escort today. He closed his window and followed her down to the kitchen. His dad was merrily eating his cheeseburgers and fries, seems mom hasn’t told him yet.  _ “Dear. Note for after dinner that Danny is grounded and we need to come up with punishments.” _

His dad paused mid-bite.  _ “Grounded? What did Dann-o do now?”  _

_ “He snuck out through his window.” _

His dad gave him a sad look, as if it broke his heart to be lied to. That man sure could tug at heartstrings when upset, that’s for sure.  _ “What made ya wanna do that?” _

Danny found himself shrinking a bit in his chair as he rubbed at his neck.  _ “Sam needed me to bring her her text book--” _

_ “Don’t add another lie, you said she was trying to protect a tree, mister--” _

_ " _ _ I’m not! I was gonna say that she left hers at home in her rush to get to the tree and wanted to know if I would go grab it for her so she could do her homework while she waited.”  _ His mom eyed him and he had to fight the urge to fidget in his seat under her gaze. She backed down just a little bit and began eating. With a sigh of relief, he did the same. Dinner was a rather tense affair between him and his mom, whilst his dad just seemed disappointed. Is it too late to say he almost missed the cultists? Once dinner was done, his parents started talking to each other about chores and such. He knew good and well that they wouldn’t let him walk off, so he waited for them to finish.

_ “We’ve decided that for your punishment we were going to extend your chores and have you help us in the lab.”  _ Fair enough, that was the typical punishment.  _ “We also decided that you were grounded from Tucker, Sam, and your phone.”  _ Wait no! He needed them! He opened his mouth to protest but his mother shushed him.  _ “No if’s, but’s, or coconuts mister. Sneaking out will not be tolerated in this house.”  _ It’s a good thing they don’t realize just how often he does it then.  _ “You best get to work early on those chores.”  _ With that, his mom finished writing the list of chores and handed it to him. His jaw almost dropped, it looked like just about every chore in the house was on it!

_ “But--” _

_ “You heard me.”  _ His mom stood firm on her decision. His dad was fidgeting off to the side, he never was the best disciplinarian.  _ “Once you finish today’s set of chores you can join us in the lab. We have to fix up, clean, and prepare some of the inventions.” _

_ “Why do you need to do that?” _

_ “We were offered a trip to New York to blabber about ghosts!”  _ His dad finally found the high point he was looking for to jump in the conversation. 

_ “New...York? Another ghost convention?” _

_ “Even better! Tony Stark himself invited us over!” _ Danny let out a strangled squeak. Why did Tony Stark call his parents?

_ “Why did he do that?”  _ He hoped it didn’t sound doubting or anything, but really it was not a good sign that Tony Stark called his parents the  **same** day he got nabbed by cultists and rescued by the Avengers.

_ “He said he met a ghost and wanted information on them.”  _ His mother chimed in.  _ “I wonder how the Avengers handled fighting a ghost without anti-ghost weaponry?”  _ His dad shrugged it off in his usual boisterous manner.

_ “They’re heroes! They can handle anything. However, as for the important stuff, he said he wanted to possibly learn from our designs, and if necessary, buy some of our patents from us and/or design stuff with us! Can you believe it? Actual funding!”  _ His dad really is an overgrown child. In a good way though, it was somewhat refreshing.

_ “So, how long are you two gonna be gone then?” _

_ “You mean us three.” _

_ “I-- what? Why am I going?” _

_ “Your sister is staying with some friends so they can study for a test. You however, are grounded, and I don’t trust you to behave yourself. Thus, we’re taking you with us to keep an eye on you.”  _ His face probably accurately reflected the ‘oh crap’ on his face, cause she tacked on.  _ “Sorry dear, but you’ve just been so odd the last few years. Maybe some good old family time might help.”  _ That wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that he wouldn’t be here to protect Amity Park.  _ “Go finish your homework so you can get started on your chores, okay?”  _ He nodded glumly and went up to his room to do his homework, for real this time. It was after he finished that he realized they forgot to take his phone. He very quickly shot a text to the group chat.

**The Ghostly Trio:**

12:08 am

**Mean-and-Green** changed your nickname to “ **Goin’Ghost!** ”

* **PDA-4-Life** : He’s going to notice.

**Mean-and-Green** : No he won’t.

**PDA-4-Life** : He’s definitely going to notice.

1:01 pm

**PDA-4-Life** : Danny? Are you okay? You really should have seen this by now.

**Mean-and-Green** : Yeah, Danny?  **@Goin’Ghost!** , are you ok?

2:05 pm

**Mean-and-Green** : Not cool Danny, you’re starting to worry us.

**PDA-4-Life** : Maybe he got grounded again?   


**Mean-and-Green** : That better be all this is, cause if he’s napping away and worrying us I’m going to kick him so hard.

**PDA-4-Life** :  **@Goin’Ghost!** , dude, are you alright?

3:24 pm

**PDA-4-Life** : Danny! Dude, really, we’re getting a bit worried!

**Mean-and-Green** : Come on Tuck, let’s start a patrol and see if we can’t find him.

5:12 pm

**Goin’Ghost** : Shoot! Sorry guys, I got kidnapped by cultists.

**PDA-4-Life** : DANNY!

**Mean-and-Green** : DANNY!!

**PDA-4-Life** : What do you mean cultists kidnapped you?!

**Goin’Ghost!** : Exactly what I said.

**PDA-4-Life** : Your luck stinks man.

**Mean-and-Green** : Are you okay? Not hurt?   


**Goin’Ghost!** : I’m okay. Sorry for skaring you.

**Goin’Ghost!** : * Scaring

**Mean-and-Green** : Just don’t do it again.

**Goin’Ghost!** : That’s the plan

\--------------new--------------

**Goin’Ghost!** : So, three things…

**Mean-and-Green** : You’re grounded again, aren’t you.

**Goin’Ghost!** : Yep.

**PDA-4-Life** : What for now?   


**Goin’Ghost!** : I snuck out to deal with a ghost, but it was only Wulf checking in on me. I went back in my window and got caught. BTW, Sam, if my mom asks you were protecting a tree from being cut down today and you asked me to bring you your textbook so you could do homework while you waited.

**Mean-and-Green** : Gotcha.

**PDA-4-Life** : What were the other things?

**Goin’Ghost!** : I’m being forced to go to New York soon.

**PDA-4-Life** : WHAT, WHY?????

**Goin’Ghost!** : My parents got called by the Avengers.

**PDA-4-Life** : The Avengers?!

**Mean-and-Green** : Danny, that’s really not good

**Mean-and-Green** : Did they say why?

**Goin’Ghost!** : So uh, remember when I said I got nabbed by cultists?

**Mean-and-Green** : Danny I swear to whatever God is real--

**PDA-4-Life** : Please don’t tell me they met Phantom and dubbed him an enemy!

**Goin’Ghost!** : No actually. They kinda rescued me? But like, then they interrogated me?

**PDA-4-Life** : Oh God, are they onto you?

**Mean-and-Green** : This is NOT good Danny!!!   


**Goin’Ghost!** : I don’t think so, they were asking for my parents and asked about ghost inventions and ghosts in general.

**PDA-4-Life** : oh no.

**Goin’Ghost!** : What do you mean “oh no” ?

**Mean-and-Green** : Your parents are super anti-ghost dude

**Goin’Ghost!** : ….shit  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so a few things: sorry this chapter came so late in the day! I got extremely overwhelmed with school work so I had to wait to post this chapter. Add in it being mom's birthday and I literally just barely got my work done in time before they were marked late. Regardless of that though, I hope you enjoy the chapter! And as always, feel free to comment, ask questions, or make recommendations.
> 
> Just to prevent any confusion, Mean-and-Green is Sam while PDA-4-Life is Tucker. I figured it was self-explanatory but wanted to be sure just in case.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Here’s the acronym for this chapter:
> 
> P.D.A. = Personal Digital Assistant  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	7. One Step Forward, Ten Steps Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, when is Danny gonna buy that mouth filter?

**Danny’s POV**

Danny quickly hid his phone before going downstairs to do his chores. It took him a few hours to do it, partially because he was slow-poking it, and partially because he was trying to get over the weird paranoia settling itself in his gut. He highly doubted Mr. Stark, or anyone for that matter, would piece it together without meeting his other half. He was a ghost when they met! Ghosts couldn’t be half human-- or so the world would think. Danny groaned as another thought came to him. He couldn’t really avoid the Avengers, could he? What teenager would pass that up? But it would be just as suspicious if he met them. He knew good and well that if anyone took a good look at him with an open-mind they could figure him out in seconds. Once he finished his chores, he went down to the basement to see what his parents wanted him for. _ “Hey, mom? I finished my chores--” _

_ “Still grounded.” _

_ “That’s not what I was gonna ask, but alright.”  _ His mom paused from her work and looked up at him.

_ “Ah, right. We did ask you to come down here, didn’t we?”  _ She straightened up and popped her back. Danny winced at how loud it seemed to his enhanced hearing. He had to remind himself that joints popping were completely normal. His mom gestured at the table she was working at.  _ “Your dad had to go pick up some more wires, we accidentally destroyed these.” _

_ “Over-charge them?” _

_ " _ _ Yep.”  _ She picked up their newest prototype.  _ “This is the * Fenton Multi-tool! It does all kinds of things. It has a screwdriver, a claw hammer, a staple remover, a corkscrew, a knife, a miniature saw, and a few other useful gadgets to have on your person.” _

_ “What makes it different from other multi-tools?” _

_  
_ _ “Glad you asked. This one comes with a ghost blaster installed just like the wrist ray, only much more compact! Not only that, but it also has an emergency button that calls the ops center and sets off the alarm.”  _ Ah, there it is. His mom seemed quite delighted at his interest. Probably because he’s usually running away from their weapons, but still.

_ “So, why exactly did you want me in the lab anyways?” _ That had been something he wondered for a bit. Everyone knows he’s ‘clumsy’ and a bit of a disaster on his feet. It’s simple math, Danny + Lab = Bad. 

_ “Well, mostly so we could talk to you while we worked. We’re worried about you--”  _ She seems just as sad as she did the day Vlad-- the fruitloop he is-- sent me and her to a surprise camping trip. She had looked just as anxious for his health then as she does now, and it shot a strike of guilt through him.

_ “Mom--” _

_ “I know you’re 17, practically an adult, but… I’m a mother, Danny, it’s in my job to worry about my kids. Ever since you were 14 you’ve been gradually pulling away more and more.”  _ She paused for a moment before continuing at his silence and guilty expression.  _ “Your grades have been dropping, you’ve been skipping school, and you seem to avoid us.”  _ Aw man, she’s doing the sad-mom-face:™:.  _ “We care about you Danny, we just… we just wanna know what’s wrong so we can support you.”  _ Oh yikes, the dangerous phrase moms use to lure you in to tell the truth. 

_ “Mom, I--”  _ The words were on the tip of his tongue. He wanted so badly to tell her the truth. But, as he opened his mouth, the words dried up and refused to come out. The same niggling paranoia and fear crawled its way up his throat and silenced any hope he had of speaking what he really wanted to say. Instead, he forced himself to say this:  _ “I really don’t mean to worry you guys. I just, I don’t really know what’s wrong myself? It’s so hard to explain.”  _ Not to mention impossible to comprehend.

His mom gently took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.  _ “Danny, no matter what we will  _ **_always_ ** _ love you. You’re our baby boy, no matter how old you get. If you’re having problems, we just want to help you.”  _ She seems so sincere that just for a moment, the doubt was silenced. He opened his mouth, fully intending to tell her what he was, only for his dad to bust open the door and march down the stairs merrily toting a bag full of supplies that probably included everything except for what he was supposed to go buy. 

_ “I’m home! I got the screws we needed!”  _ Judging by mom’s exasperated sigh accompanied by a facepalm, he could tell she was regretting not making him a physical list. That, and she might have been upset that her conversation with him was cut short.

_ “Jack, dear, we needed wires.”  _ His dad made a weird face, kinda like when your YouTube video needs to buffer for a moment and it typically picks an odd transition face, yeah, _ that one _ , before looking dismayed. 

_ “Oh….Well, we have screws!”  _ Least he bounced back quick from that. Danny’s mom stood up and dusted herself off before looking at Jack.

_ “I’m gonna go get the wires, you stay here and see if you can’t figure out why the multi-tool is jamming so much.”  _ His mom sent a soft, worried look at Danny before turning back to Jack.  _ “Oh and Jack? Be sure to keep Danny with you.” _

_ “You got it!”  _ His dad sat down at the little stool with so much force Danny could  **hear** the stool cry in protest. Maddie smiled at them both before heading up the stairs and out the door. His dad turned to him and smiled  _ “So, Dann-o--” _

_ “Yeah?” _

_ “You excited about going to New York?” _

_ “Not really…” _

_ “What! What’s there not to love!?”  _ Ouch, seems dad forgot how loud he can be.

_ “I don’t really like planes--” _

_ “Is this about the time a ghost took over the plane you and your mom were on?” _

_ “No, but that sucked too.” _

_ “Look on the bright side! The plane’s only for a few hours and you can sleep the whole way there! Once there we get to meet the Avengers! You’ve always looked up to them, so I know that will be exciting.”  _ Well, technically Danny already met them.  _ “Then, when we aren’t in meetings and such, we can explore what New York has to offer!” _

_ “Dad, I’m grounded.” _

_ “I’m sure I can swing your mom’s favor a little so you can at least come with us.”  _ Danny had to smile at that, even though looking like a total tourist with his parents didn’t sound very exciting, it would be kind of nice to pretend to be a perfectly normal family. The smile quickly dropped as he remembered the real reason he didn’t wanna go.  _ “Danny? Is everything okay?” _

_ “Dad….why do you guys hate ghosts so much?” _

_ “Danny, we’ve been over this before--” _

_ “I know but, I just, I think you guys are wrong about ghosts.”  _ His dad looked incredulous. Not necessarily angry, but just so confused. 

_ “What do you mean? What could we be wrong about?”  _ his dad said with confusing tainting every word.

_ “I… I think there are good ghosts dad.” _

_ “Oh no, Dan, please don’t tell me you’ve let Phantom fool you--” _

_ “Dad--” _

_ “Listen to me, Phantom is an irregularity of course, but he is a ghost! Ghosts cannot be trusted.” _

_ “Dad--” _

_ “Trust me, Danny! We’ve been in this field for a very long time, there has never been a ghost we’ve encountered that didn’t do something for some kind of self-gain! Ghosts are impulsive and selfish by nature.” _

_ “Dad I--” _

_ “Ghosts are inherently evil Danny. If we don’t stop them then no one will--” _

**_“Dad!”_ ** Danny really didn’t mean to raise his voice, but it was starting to hurt to hear it over and over again. His dad sat there in stunned silence. Danny knew he wasn’t really one to yell so it must have been surprising. He took the silence as his chance to continue.  _ “I’m… I… Dad, I..”  _ All the confidence he had felt a moment ago was very quickly fading.  _ “I’ve… met a few ghosts that are really nice dad. I know what you said, but some of them are just really confused or are only trying to cope with their obsession. Not all of them are bad--” _

His dad frowned  _ “Son, when did you meet these ghosts?”  _

_ “Do you… remember when I got pulled through the barrier during the Phariah Dark invasion?”  _ His dad only nodded; for once content to listen.  _ “When I was lost in the Ghost Zone, I met some ghosts who decided to help me, not attack me. They helped guide me back. I didn’t have anything to offer them and they still helped me.”  _ That was only a partial truth, but his dad never was one to see through lies very well. 

_ “Danny, I, they must have been--” _

_ “No dad, that’s what you and mom don’t understand! You guys are only looking at the bad ghosts, not the neutral or good. You gotta remember dad, humans have the potential to be good or bad. All ghosts are just humans that have passed on, but have not been able to move on to the next thing.”  _

His dad scratched the back of his neck, not too unlike what Danny does when he’s nervous or embarrassed.  _ “Danny--” _

_ “No dad. Think about it! Ghosts can be invisible and intangible. Not only that, but some of the weakest ghosts and spectres can’t be detected on the * Fenton Finder. We see the bad ghosts because those are the most readily available--”  _ His dad seemed unsure, but was at least willing to listen.  _ “Not only that, but a lot of the ghosts proved pretty reasonable. Some of them just really wanted to get a handle on their obsession and took it too far.” _

_ “Danny--”  _

_ “I know it looks bad but--” _

_ “No, Danny, just listen.”  _ Danny grimaced and waited to hear his dad’s response, knowing good and well his dad wouldn’t change his mind.  _ “Danny. I, I really don’t know what to say to that. You have to understand. Our entire career has told us that ghosts are bad and that’s all there is to them. We’ve studied them for a lot longer than you Danny.”  _ His dad was being oddly serious for once, though he picked a bad time for it.  _ “I really feel like they may have been trying to use you to get to us. Just look at that no good Phantom for example! He wants the whole town to think he’s a good guy, but he’s not! He’s a ghost!”  _ That sent a pang through Danny’s heart. It  **never** got easier to hear.

_ “ _ **_You’re wrong._ ** _ ” _

_ “No, Danny, we’re the experts--” _

_ “For  _ **_experts_ ** _ you sure are close-minded about ghosts! What kind of expert doesn’t consider multiple theories or approaches!”  _ Danny almost immediately covered his mouth, he didn’t mean to insult his dad, it just slipped out in the anger.  _ “Dad I’m--” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry! I know this one was late, but I’ve had a crap ton going on right now and completely forgot what day it was. I’ve been sick, swamped with college work, and I have been working on the story at the same time. (I’m fine btw, just a really bad case of strep, I have a weak immune system so these things hit me hard). I also wanna thank you guys for the 1000 hits and all the kudos and bookmarks! You guys really are too sweet. I promise I’m not giving up on the story, but I might forget an update or two on the update days, but they will happen. Pinky promise.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Inventions: (original and by me!)
> 
> Fenton Multi-tool - added in by me but influenced by the episode “Maternal Instinct” where Maddie had so many tools on her - It’s pretty self explanatory. It’s a regular multi-tool but has a few anti-ghost weapons to prevent possession and to fire at a ghost.  
> Fenton Finder - show compliant - Uses satellite data to locate ghosts. It’s a bit sassy for some reason and tends to be very sarcastic.


	8. A Ghost of Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things cannot be unsaid.  
> Some things cannot be unseen.  
> Some things are better left hidden in the dark.
> 
> Have we crossed that line?

**Danny’s POV**

_ “Danny…” _ His dad looked pretty heartbroken to hear that, and Danny cursed himself for getting too riled up and speaking without thinking.  _ “We just...We just want to protect you guys. We know what we’re talking about, and I know we’ve not exactly made it easy on you and Jazzy-Pants all these years without our… ‘eccentric’ behavior. But we really care about you two, and we just want to make the world safer for you two.”  _

_ “I know--”  _ Really, he did, and he respects it on some level, if only it wasn’t so flawed at the same time.  _ “I’m sorry….” _

His dad shakes his head quietly.  _ “Say, why don’t you hand me the Philips Oval-Head wood screws?”  _ Seems his dad wants to change the topic, and honestly, Danny’s right there with him. Danny, using the screwdrivers incident as perspective, grabbed some screws and handed it to him. His dad smiled, even if it wasn’t at its usual brightness.  _ “I see you were listening after all! Thanks.”  _ Danny cracked a meek smile, hoping that this awkward air would go away eventually. 

The silence, minus a few interruptions of his dad asking him to hand him something, regretfully continued on until his mother came back through the door. She lifted up the bag and opened her mouth before pausing.  _ “Everything alright?”  _ Danny winced, fully expecting his dad to tell his mom what he said and for him to get in even more trouble.

_ “Nah, I just feel really bad for you having to go out Mads, I thought for sure I got what we needed.”  _ Danny was a bit surprised, and undoubtedly grateful. He really didn’t deserve for his dad to cover for him after what he said.

_ “Oh hun, I’m not upset with you. We all know you’re a little bit absent-minded at times and love you none-the-less.”  _ She gave him a peck on the cheek and got the supplies out of the bag.  _ “Besides, I remembered a few things I forgot to ask you to get anyways.” _

_ “On point as always.” _

_ “Of course I am, someone has to be,”  _ she said teasingly. She gets settled and checks the inventions. She seems unfocused somehow, and Danny gets the distinct feeling it had to do with him.  _ “Danny-- about what we talked about earlier--” _

_ “Mom--” _

_ “No buts. Just, hear me out.”  _ Danny shut his mouth and nodded, figuring he owes them that much.  _ “We want our baby boy back, Danny.”  _ Danny scrunched his face in confusion, what did she mean? He tried to ignore the pang of panic at the thought of them thinking he was possessed again or something.  _ “It seems that, for three years now, no matter what we do you just pull away even more. I know you said we wouldn’t understand, but we really want to. And, and I know you said you don’t understand it yourself, but maybe we can work it out, as a family. That’s what families do, they stick together and look out for each other.”  _ Danny licked his lips as he tried to get the answer out.

_ “You swear you won’t get angry?” _

_ “Angry? Why would we be angry?” _

_ “You have to swear first.”  _ His heart was pounding in his chest, and it was so loud he honestly wondered if perhaps he was wrong about being half-dead. 

His parents shared a concerned look before his mom spoke up  _ “Danny, are you in trouble?”  _ His dad seemed a bit alarmed, and Danny immediately knew his dad was assuming something about their ghost conversation. It’s best to bite the bullet.

_ “I did what you wanted mom, I swear I did.” _

_ " _ _ Danny, what do you mean?”  _ Their concern was growing, why was it so hard to just say it?

_ “It might just be easier to show you….”  _ He took a deep breath. He really was going to do it. It’s been 3 years. He’s shown them who he was twice now, albeit with memory altering after-effects. He clenched his eyes shut and let his transformation wash over him. He heard his parents gasp loudly. 

_ “...Danny?” _

_ “Yeah mom.”  _ He opened his eyes up to their shocked expressions. His chest clenched.  _ “It’s me.”  _ His heart beat grew louder with each second that passed. His voice nearly broke as he quietly asked  _ “Mom? Dad?” _

His mom covered her mouth as she struggled to gather her thoughts together.  _ “You-- no, I--” _

_ “Mom, It’s really me--” _

_"_ _That’s impossible!”_ His dad’s exclamation made his heart stop. Did he make a mistake? Did they not accept him like they swore? Like they have before? A tiny voice screamed in the back of his mind that he should have expected it. **Who could love a ghost?** _“Where’s the real Danny!”_

His throat tightened to the point of nearly cutting off his breathing, his chest felt far too heavy and his eyes were beginning to sting. _ “Dad...this is me. I--” _

_ “That’s impossible, ghosts can’t be alive, and, and... you! You can’t be Danny!” _

He forced himself to breathe, to keep calm.  _ “Dad… don’t you remember helping me put the stars up in my room?... I was so tiny I couldn’t possibly reach the ceiling, even with a ladder. You..” he had to swallow before he could work up the strength to continue, “you immediately got out the ladder and helped me put them up. You even humored me when I corrected you on where to put them.”  _ His dad frowned, so he took that as his opportunity to speak more.  _ “What about the time when we went to Disney Land? And I got scared of the roller coaster so you stayed down with me, insisting that you didn’t wanna go too even though I knew you did.”  _ He turned to his mom, who still hadn’t spoken a word.  _ “Do you believe me? Mom?”  _

She rubbed at her face before approaching him and removing her goggles. She stared at him intently as she reached forward to cup his face with her hands. She stared deeply at him for a moment.  _ “Turn back for a moment, I want to test something.”  _ His stomach flipped and he honestly didn’t know how he felt about that phrase. He hesitantly swapped back to his human form. His mom jolted a bit but didn’t pull back  _ “Have you-- oh God, wait, you mean?” _

_ “Yeah mom...I’ve been a halfa for three years now.” _

_ “How? What happened?” _

_ “I went down to the lab with Sam and Tucker to look at the portal.” _

_ “But it didn’t work--” _

_ “Because you made a wiring mistake.” _

_ “..What?” _

_ “There were two switches on the machine. When I went in--”  _ Her eyes filled with horror.

_ “You died?” _

_ “Sort of? Like I said, I don’t really completely understand how to even phrase this.”  _ He made vague gestures as he tried to think of what to say. He looked up to see that both of his parents looked shell-shocked as their mouths hung open with sorrow, guilt, and horror. 

_ “We killed you….”  _ His mom finally managed to catch up to herself. Danny felt a pang of guilt as her eyes watered. 

_ “Mom no--” _

_ “And we shot at you! More than once!” _

_ “Mom--” _

_ “I’m a horrible mother--” _

_ “Mom! You aren’t--”  _ He turned to his dad for support, only to find his dad was in tears too. Why did he have to be the emotionally stable one all the time?

_ “Oh Dann-o, we’re so sorry…” _

_ “It’s okay dad, it was my fault for--” _

_ “We should have made sure it was safe!”  _ his mom yelled out. He found himself flinching if only because she almost never yells, except for at enemies.  _ “So stupid, we should have known--” _

_ “Mom, please, don’t beat yourself up over this.” _

_ “How can I not, Danny? Knowing that we caused you to get hurt,  _ **_to die_ ** _? Then, not only that, but we attacked you relentlessly and-- oh God, we were going to dissect you--” _

_ “You never would have caught me mom. I made sure of it.” _

_ “But what if we did--” _

_ “I would’ve swapped back--” _

_ “We’ve seen shapeshifting ghosts before Danny, we wouldn’t have believed you, and, and…”  _ Maddie was three seconds towards a break down and Danny had no idea how to stop it. 

_ “Mom, please just listen.”  _ He found himself gently holding her shoulders and trying to assure her.  _ “I could never hate you guys. You guys have always looked out for me and Jazz.”  _ He looked around for a tissue before giving it to his mom. _ “It’s not your fault either, I shouldn’t have been poking around inside a possibly dangerous machine.” _

His dad, still looking incredibly guilty, spoke up.  _ “Danny, why didn’t you tell us?” _

Danny groaned and rubbed his neck.  _ “Well, originally I just, didn’t believe it myself? It should have been impossible. Being dead and alive at the same time I mean.”  _ He glanced down at his feet so that he didn’t have to meet their eyes.  _ “Then you guys ran into ‘Inviso-Bill’ and declared him an enemy and started attacking him-- and I just… I was scared you wouldn’t accept me anymore.”  _

_ “Danny--”  _ his parents spoke at almost the same moment in an attempt to soothe him.

_ “I know you guys love me, I promise you, I really do. It just was scary to wonder what would happen if you did decide that I wasn’t worthy of being loved anymore.” _

_ “Oh Danny, we could never stop loving you.”  _ His mom chimed softly as she pulled him into a hug. His dad immediately encircled them both into a bear hug. 

_ “You and Jazz mean the world to us, even if it feels like we forget it sometimes when we get so wrapped up in our work.”  _ His dad added.

Danny found himself smiling.  _ “I know.”  _ and for the first time since the accident, he actually believed himself when he said it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to another exciting chapter! I’m not really sure what to give for an update aside from my fever’s down and I’m staying hydrated! I hope you guys liked this chapter, and as always, feel free to comment, ask questions, or make recommendations!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	9. Epi-Log

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the best things a family can do is to sit down and brainstorm solutions to each others' problems. In this case, it just might become all of their problems if Tony Stark is on the case.

**Danny’s POV**

It wasn’t long after that that his parents sat him down and began the interrogation. It was mostly harmless things about other ghosts more-so than about him. His parents practically looked like little kids meeting Santa for the first time as they took notes about everything new they were learning. It was only about halfway through talking about his incident with the summoning that he brought up meeting the Avengers and his parents suddenly looked panicked and guilty.  _ “What’s wrong?”  _ He asked them.

_ "When the Avengers called-- we had called ghosts menaces and especially talked poorly about Phantom,”  _ his mom said with remorse,  _ “We need to cancel the trip to New York. I refuse to give them anything to harm my baby boy with--” _

_ “I don’t think that’s a good idea mom.” _

_ “What do you mean? They could hurt you!” _

_ “Mom, if you just went from talking badly about ghosts to ghosts suddenly being accepted, they might start to assume something and look into it.” _

_ “What if they assume something suspicious if we back out suddenly instead?”  _ His dad added to the conversation. Danny had to wince as he realized he didn’t consider that. 

_ “Then we have no choice but to go--”  _ He said before his mom cut him off.

_ “No! I am not giving them weapons to hurt you with!” _

_ “I didn’t say that mom. Instead of weapons, we can give them defensive items instead. Like the * Fenton Ghost Shield or the * Fenton Specter Deflector.”  _

_ “Good call. Do you think we should also give them the * Ghost Gabber?”  _ His dad said.

_ “Dad, I don’t know how much that actually works…” _

_ “Nonsense! It works great!” _

_ “What if they ask about our weapons though?”  _ His mom said, worry filling her voice.

_ “We’ll just tell them we don’t think they need proper training or something.” _

_ “And then they’ll expect training.”  _ The trio sat there for what seemed like hours as they tried to figure out what they needed to do. They collectively sighed as they realized the same thing. There was nothing they could do to avoid them wanting to see weapons to deal with ghosts. Danny paused as an idea hit him.

_ “We’re only delaying the inevitable here, but what if we made an excuse to delay the trip? Like, a ghost related issue.” _

_ “But we don’t want them to think  _ **_all_ ** _ ghosts are bad, that defeats the purpose.” _

_ “No, no. A research venture from a recent breakthrough.” _

_ “Oh! So that it would give us time to ‘discover’ something new that could change our opinions?” _

_ “Yeah!” _

_ “That might work…”  _ They argued for the better half of twenty minutes when the phone rang. His mom checked the caller ID and muttered  _ “Speak of the Devil and he shall call.” _

She answered the call and Tony Stark’s voice rang through.  _ “Hey there, who am I currently talking to?” _

_ “Maddie Fenton.” _

_ “Ah, Mrs. Fenton, one of the two I wanted to hear from actually. I wanted to make sure we were still good for this weekend--” _

_ “About that, we may need to wait till next weekend or so.” _

_ “Oh? Everything alright?” _

_ “Everything’s fine, we just need some time because we’re working on a new theory of ours.” _

_ “Ah, I’m not one to impede progress. I’ll change the arrangements for next weekend instead.” _

_ “Thank you very much.” _

_ “May I just ask one question before I hang up?”  _ His mom sent them a worried look before responding.

_ “Of course. What do you wanna know?” _

_ “Can you tell me why your kid looks so much like Phantom?” _

Maddie forced a laugh through, though she looked very uneasy.  _ “You know how teenagers are. They tend to model themselves to look like role models. The teens around here are absolutely enamored with that ghost.”  _

_ “Right… Thank you for clearing that up. Take care Mrs. Fenton. I’ll call you back next Friday to make sure we’re still all set.” _

_ “Sounds good. Thank you.”  _ She hung up with a heavy sigh before turning to Danny and Jack.  _ “We aren’t taking you to New York with us.” _

_ “Won’t they think that’s weird to suddenly change your mind?” _

_ “Well, I’ve decided a more fitting punishment would be to have you stay and miss out on meeting your idols and to stay with your sister at the house instead.” _

_ “Fair enough. But I thought Jazz was gonna be staying with her friend for the next three weeks to focus on her finals?”  _

_ “He’s right… I don’t want him stuck by himself with how often the ghosts target Phantom.” _

_ “Do the ghosts… know? About you being Fenton and Phantom?” _

_ “Yeah, they’re how I found out I was a Halfa.” _

_ “You never really did clarify what a Halfa was.” _

_ “Oh, uh. It’s someone that’s both dead and alive at the same time, I guess?” _

_ “Did they make the term because of you?” _

_ “No. There’s apparently been halfas before me.” _

_ “Are you the only one currently?” _

_ “..No, but out of ghost etiquette and stuff I’m not telling you who.” _

_ “But--” _

_ “No mom. Trust me, I  _ **_really_ ** _ don’t like the guy, but it’s considered super rude to talk about another ghost’s death. And considering being a halfa is part of our death, it’s not okay for me to talk about.” _

_ “Oh.” _

_ “Yeah. So if and when we meet a ghost, don’t bring up their death at all. Don’t mention their core or past either. And well, don’t bring up them being ghosts. It’s kinda like looking at a person and calling them human, they know.” _

_ "Well, I suppose this really is a new theory thing.”  _ His dad laughed.  _ “It’s such a shame we don’t have a way of knowing more about them though.” _

_ “We could actually  _ **_talk_ ** _ to them you know.” _

_ “Would they even let us?” _

_ “I have friends in the ghost zone, I’m sure some of them would be willing to talk.” _

_ "Like?”  _ Danny frowned to himself as he considered who to bring up.

_ Clockwork _ , while an indispensable ally, is a bit unpredictable, so he should be a last resort.  _ Princess Dora _ would be a great one, as long as the dragon stayed concealed.  _ Frostbite _ might have difficulties since he isn’t fond of the heat and it would be too dangerous to take his parents into that part of the zone.  _ Wulf _ is a great friend, but he doubted his parents would understand Esperanto, and even if they did he doubted they’d get over his appearance.  _ Sidney Poindexter _ has been doing a lot better since his mirror got shattered and they began to talk it out, but he isn’t exactly the most patient, nor can he stay in the human world for long.  _ Pandora _ is arguably more neutral than friendly, and he doubted she’d leave her box undefended for long. Oh shoot, that doesn’t leave many others.

He pondered a bit more. What about  _ Dani _ ? She might be a bit hard to contact since she travels the world doing her own thing, but she would be great for them to meet.  _ “There’s a lot of really nice ghosts, but not all of them would be able to meet you due to their physical state.” _

_ “What do you mean by that?” _

_ “Well, for example, Frostbite is super  _ **_cool_ ** _ , but he doesn’t really like hot temperatures and it’s too cold for me to take you to that part of the zone without you dying or getting severely sick.”  _ His dad took that into consideration.

_ “How’d you two meet?”  _ Oh heck, that’s dangerous territory.

_ “Well, during the Phariah Dark incident, I ran into a blue ghost named Clockwork who led me to a ghost called Princess Dora--” _

_ “Pandora?” _

_ “No, no, Pandora is a different ghost. She’s the queen of Athens and guardian of Pandora’s box. I mean Princess Dorathea, she’s the green ghost that sometimes turns into a dragon.” _

_ “The black and purple angry dragon?” _

_ “Well, that one’s her brother, Prince Aragon. She’s the blue and green one.” _

_ “Isn’t she the one that--” _

_ “She didn’t mean to.” _

_ “How can you be sure?” _

_ “She’s helped me a lot and is really sweet. She just suffers from a bad curse and a lonely obsession.” _

_ “What’s her obsession?”  _ Danny winced.

_ “Sorry dad, that’s taboo to ask a ghost.” _

_ “Taboo?” _

_ “It’s considered super rude to ask or rib a ghost about their obsession. Just like how it’s bad to ask about their death or previous life.”  _ He made a vague circular hand motion.  _ “Some ghosts consider that a warrant for killing you, to show you their pain. Most ghosts are nice, but the majority of ghosts get super hostile if you bring any of that up.”  _ Both of his parents made a mental note to add that to the list of ‘what not to say’.

_ “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”  _ His mom said softly as she patted his shoulder.  _ “In the meantime, let’s take a break and get something to eat.” _

_ “ _ **_I vote fudge!_ ** _ ”  _

_ “Something with sustenance, Jack.” _

_ “Fudge has sustenance.”  _ His parents argued all the way up the stairs about if fudge can count as a real food or not as Danny trailed behind. There certainly was a lot to think about now, and he hoped they’d figure it all out before next Friday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good to see you all again! I hope you liked this surprise chapter. I wanted to make it sooner since we had hit 1500, but I was worried I wouldn’t hit my Thursday goal since I got a bit behind on chapters for a bit (I’m fine, just underestimated how much my college professors hate us). However, I did get ahead with my chapters so this one will come out early as planned! On another note, I got a challenge for you guys: I want you to keep a running tally of how many puns are said throughout the story (remember, not all of them are bolded!) First person to comment the current amount of puns (throughout all 9 chapters) gets a shoutout in chapter 10 (just a fun little giggly thing to do). Also, did I trick you with that title? Feel free to comment down below, ask questions, and make recommendations for the future!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Inventions: (original and by me!)
> 
> Fenton Ghost Shield - Show compliant - The Fentons' own ghost shield. It has been used to protect Fenton Works, Casper High School, Youngblood’s Pirate Ship, and all of Amity Park.  
> Fenton Specter Deflector - Show Compliant - It is a belt that repels and weakens any ghost that comes in direct contact of the person wearing it. It can also be put on a half-ghost to disable some of his or her powers.   
> Ghost Gabber - Show Compliant - This device translates ghosts' wailing sounds into human-understandable language.


	10. Science Never Rests, but Tony Should

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no rest for the wicked... And Tony Stark apparently. Unless Pepper has any say in it that is!

**Tony’s POV**

Something smelt  **fishy** about today, and it wasn’t the Long John Silvers they had for dinner, either. He couldn’t help but keep running the phone call through his mind over-and-over, trying to discern if he was looking too far into it or if there really was something to justify this strange  **obsession** with the call. It seemed normal enough. Polite greeting, reason for delay, a reasonable response to his question, and a stinted goodbye. This is exactly how he found himself opening up Casper High’s year book and looking at the various pictures of the youngest Fenton. He noted that the youngest had pretty much always sported that appearance, so it was a little weird to claim Phantom inspired it. Sure, there’s reports of Phantom all the way back in Greece, but it was weird that he only became super active around three years ago. 

He took a sip of his now-cold coffee and glared at the screen in front of him. He didn’t even hear someone enter the room until he barely glanced to his left and got the fright of his life as he saw Peter staring at the screen.  _ “Jesus!-- Kid! Personal space!” _

Peter immediately jumped back as he realized what he did.  _ “Sorry Mr. Stark!” _

_ "It’s fine kid, just, give a man some warn-- hey! We’ve been over this! I’m not old enough to be a Mr. Stark yet, call me Tony!” _

_ "Yes Mr. Staaaaaaarrrrr--Tonnneey?”  _

_ “Nice save kid.” _

_ “Sorry.” _

_ “It’s fine kid.”  _ Mr. Stark gestured at the screen.  _ “Remember how I was talking about ghosts?” _

_ “Is this the dead kid?” _

_ “No, but I get the odd feeling he might be more than a normal kid.” _

_ “What do you mean.” _

_ “I think he’s like you.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “A science experiment must’ve went wrong or got out and messed up his * DNA or something. I mean, it’s just too coincidental that they’re both named Danny and look as similar as they do.” _

_ “Can I see the pictures?” _

_ “Knock yourself out kid, I could use a second opinion.”  _ He moved a bit to the side so Peter could get a better look. Peter stared at both of the pictures side by side for a bit.

_ “That… definitely looks like the same person. Just invert the colors.” _

_ “Fair, that probably would’ve helped my sleep addled brain stop arguing with itself.” _

_ “It would also help if you got some sleep Mr. Stark.” _

_ “Maybe  _ **_Tony_ ** _ doesn’t want to sleep.”  _ He said before sticking his tongue out. Peter huffed a bit, looking embarrassed.

_ “Don’t make me get Pepper--” _

_ “You wouldn’t, that’s a capital punishment!”  _

Peter closed his eyes, faking remorse.  _ “But I must--” _

_ “Kid, no-- I’ll buy you a new lego set--” _

_ “Tempting, but you don’t have to do that for me Mr. Stark, I’d rather you actually get some sleep for once.” _

_ “Fine! Don’t call Pepper. Just, just do me one little favor.” _

_ “Of course! What is it?” _

_ “Two actually.” _

_ “O-kay?” _

_ “1. It’s Tony.” _

_ “Yessir, Tony sir.” _

_ “2. Can you look into this Danny kid when he visits with his parents next weekend?” _

_ “Wha-- why would you want me to do that?” _

_ “Cause something about the whole Fenton-Phantom thing is driving me nuts. I know I’m right yet I can’t prove it. Not a single camera or person anywhere has proof. There’s one kid, a Wes Weston, who has the same theory, but he can’t prove it either.” _

_ “So you want me to like… befriend him?” _

_ “I don’t want you to fake friendship kid, you’re not a spy. I just want to know for my own sanity. If you don’t want to just say so, I don’t want you to feel forced, kid.”  _ He rolled his shoulders and stood up, wincing at the loud pops his joints and bones made.  _ “Besides, if I’m right then you should have a similar type of humor.” _

_ “Not all teens are the same, Tony.” _

_ “He quotes memes.” _

_ “I take it back, I love him already.” _

_ “I figured you would.”  _ Tony headed towards the elevator.  _ “You coming?” _

_ “I thought you wanted me to look into it?” _

_ “Later, right now I need you to distract Loki so I can actually get some sleep.” _

_ “On it. I’ll convince him to prank Mr. Rogers with me.” _

_ “Good. If you need anything for your prank let Friday know, and make sure it actually hits your target this time and not some casualty of  _ **_prank wars._ ** _ ” _

_ “On it!”  _ Peter grinned as the elevator took them into the main living room of the private quarters. Peter quickly got off and ran off to get Loki and not-so-subtlety convince him to help him with the prank. Tony rolled his eyes in fond exasperation before having the elevator take him up to the penthouse. He really didn’t plan to sleep, but he didn’t want Peter or Pepper to get worried about him. Once he got his mind on to something it was pretty hard to jerk his mind away from it until it was proven true or false, or until the problem was solved. Phantom seemed pretty harmless, and Fenton seemed like a normal kid as far as he could tell. The grades and attendance were a bit alarming, but he figured that was just a teenager being a teenager.

Not only that, but it was kinda odd how Fenton disappeared right as Phantom reappeared. Seriously, how did only one person piece it together after three years? Just as he pulled up a hologram, he heard an ‘ahem’ from behind him.

_ “Put the hologram away Tony.” _

_ “Pepper! The light of my life, the reason I live--” _

_ “Put it away, Tony. Go to bed.” _

_ “But… science!” _

_ “Either you sleep right now or I force you to go to your own meetings for the next week.” _

_ “Now that’s just cruel.” _

_ “Then you know how serious I am.” _

_ “More like ‘ _ **_Sirius_ ** _ during a full moon’.” _

_ “Quit quoting movie characters at me and go to bed.” _

_ “But Pepper--” _

_ “Do not argue with me. You’ll have a fresh brain to deal with whatever you’re researching tomorrow. You’ve probably already figured it out and are just too tired to realize it.” _

_ “Okay but let me just--” _

_ “Tony.” _

_ “Pep, please? Just, five more minutes?” _

_ “What is ‘so world-changingly important’ this time?” _

_ “Ghosts.” _

_ “...You’ve finally lost it.” _

_ “No! Pep! They’re real!” _

_ “I’m calling Bruce and telling him to give you a brain scan.” _

_ “Pep! Did Peter send you?! That traitor!”  _ Yelling after her proved futile, however, as she left the room. He groaned audibly and rubbed his face. Yeah, it sounded crazy, but so did aliens before actual aliens attacked! He really hoped she didn’t actually go to fetch Bruce to have his head checked, cause that would be awkward to explain. Bruce was too easily startled by these kinds of things and probably would not react well. A bit later, sure enough, Pepper returned with Bruce who looked very concerned.

_ “Tony.”  _ Bruce sounded absolutely exhausted.

_ “Science bro.”  _ Tony deadpanned.

_ “I don’t need to do a brain scan to tell you to go to bed.” _

_ “Sleep is for the weak--” _

_ “And for Tony Stark.” _

_ “But Science never rests!” _

_ “But Tony Stark needs to.” _

_ “Bruuuuuuuce.” _

_ “Tony. Please, just, sleep. It’s not healthy for you to go so long without sleep.” _

_ “But I’ve almost solved it!” _

_ “Tony. Please, ghosts don’t exist.” _

_ “Then what do you call Danny Phantom?” _

_ “A metahuman.” _

_ “Bit by a radioactive ghost?” _

_ “Fused with an unknown energy source. Now go to bed.” _

_ “But.” _

_ “No.”  _ Bruce, for once, stood firm in his argument.

_ “Fine. I’ll sleep. _ **_If!_ ** _ You help me with my research for the next three days!”  _

_ “Fine! Just go to bed.” _

_ “Sounds good!” _

_ “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” _

_ “Maybe. We’ll see.”  _ Tony waved them off and actually got ready for bed. He fully intended to bug Bruce for the next few days just to confirm his findings. For now, he needed his beauty rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I am a little disappointed none of you humored my little game, but that’s okay. Can’t exactly blame you with how many puns I’ve riddled in this story. My challenge shall be extended until the final chapter or until someone humors me. BTW! Would you rather the next chapter pick up from where this 1 left off with Tony or would you like to go back to Danny? Or see Peter? Let me know down below. Oh, and feel free to chat with me in comments, ask questions, or make recommendations! I try to answer every comment if I can help it.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Here’s the acronym for this chapter:
> 
> DNA = Deoxyribonucleic Acid  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	11. Of Pranks and Wes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter keeps a promise.

**Peter’s POV**

Peter kept his promise; he didn’t tell Pepper. However, Tony never said he couldn’t tell Friday to tell Rhodey to tell Pepper to hiss at Tony. A tiny part of him felt guilty for going around Tony like that, but it really was for his own good. 

_ “Man of spiders, now is not the time to ponder regret. We have a prank to do.” _

_ "Oh, sorry Mr. Loki! I got distracted!” _

_ “I noticed.” _

_ “Right, well, do you see the target?” _

_ “Yes, the Star Spangled Banner is in sight.”  _ Loki was practically grinning, and Peter was just glad it wasn’t him in Steve’s position.

_ “Wonderful. Is Fly-By in position?” _

_ “Fly-By is in position.”  _ Clint’s voice came through the comm unit. Peter had thought it was a little overkill to use the comm units for a single prank, but Loki was the expert and insisted.  _ “Are Miss Tuffet and Lowkey Evil in positions?” _

_ “Yes, we are.”  _ Loki was currently hiding behind a wall as he levitated some once-empty paint cans filled with gravy over the door. 

_ “Yep!”  _ Peter, on the other hand, was upside down above the doorway holding the feathers.

_ “Shush young spider, you’ll give us away.” _

_ “Sorry.” _

_ “Hey, ease up on Miss Tuffet.” _

_ “I do what I want, Fly-By.” _

_ "I will fight you.” _

_ "No balls.” _

_ “Guys, focus on the mission.”  _ Peter sighed.  _ “Do we still have sights on the Star Spangled Banner?” _

_ “Affirmative. He’s right about to enter the door. In positions everyone.”  _ The three scrooges focused intently on their plan. Nothing could go wrong. Absolutely nothing. Not even the lack of mention that Natasha was right next to Steve when he went in. Or when Natasha got hit with half of what was intended for Steve. 

_ “Uh, Miss Tuffet to base… it’s time to run.” _

_ “Shall we sacrifice Fly-By?” _

_ “I second the motion if only for our survival.” _

_ “Wait no-- Guys, please!” _

_ “Good luck.”  _ Loki grabbed Peter and teleported the two of them out and away before Natasha could clean the gunk from her face; leaving Clint to face them alone.

Once far enough, the two held a short funeral for Clint.  _ “We should start seeing other prank partners for a bit.”  _ Loki said calmly as they watched the paper boat burn in the fishtank.

_ "Wha-- but, I thought we had something special?” _

_ “We did, but it’s too dangerous to be seen together for now.” _

_ “Shall we meet again?” _

_ “When the time is right.” _

_ “Very well, take care Lowkey Evil.” _

_ “Indeed, Miss Tuffet.”  _ Loki strutted off and left Peter staring at the wall for a moment. Eventually, Peter decided to head to the intern lab and check out some information on the ghost kid and the Fentons like Tony wanted. Through his search, he found Wes Weston’s private twitter account and sent him a dm wanting to chat. About twenty seconds into the conversation, he almost began to regret it.

**Westerday’s News** **  
** @Wes Weston

**Sir Memesalot:** Hey, you’re Wes Weston from Amity Park right?

**Westerday’s News:** Depends, who’s asking?

**Sir Memesalot:** My name’s Peter Parker and I’m a photographer for the Daily Bugle in New York.

That was only somewhat a lie. He quit that job sometime after Tony hired him, but he used to be.

**Westerday’s News:** Yeah right. What does some New Yorker want with me?

**Sir Memesalot:** I wanna know about Danny Phantom.

It was at this moment that Peter knew... he messed up.

**Westerday’s News:** Finally! Someone with some fucking common sense! I mean, how has no one else but me noticed it until this point?!

**Sir Memesalot:** Yeah, mind sharing any information you got?

**Westerday’s News:** For starters, their names are way too similar. * _DANNY*_ Fenton and * _DANNY*_ Phantom? Really?

**Westerday’s News:** Second, they have the exact same body build and hair style. Literally just color swap his hair. 

**Westerday’s News:** Third, their voices are almost identical! Phantom’s just has a weird echo to it.

**Westerday’s News:** Fourth, his two best friends, Sam and Tucker, are often seen with “Phantom” helping him fight, yet “Fenton” is never around.

**Westerday’s News:** Fifth, Phantom has  _ Fenton _ tech on him to help him fight. I don’t know about you, but if I was a ghost I wouldn’t go anywhere near ghost hunters for no reason. Especially not to borrow their gear to fight  _ other _ ghosts.

That sent a spike of worry through Peter. He really should have considered there would be ghost hunters in such a haunted city and that Phantom would get attacked often. Somehow though, it just felt wrong to imagine a ghost getting attacked  _ just _ for existing. That was so racist…life-ist maybe? Would ghosts be considered a race like an alien or not since they were once human? Wait, do animals have ghosts? Focus Peter.

**Westerday’s News:** Sixth, Fenton’s parents wear jumpsuits that are veeeeery similar to Phantom’s jumpsuit. Almost suspiciously so. Just remove the emblem on his chest and you can’t miss it.

**Westerday’s News:** Lastly, I even saw Fenton transform into Phantom in front of me to mock me since he knew that no one believed me and I couldn’t prove it!

That one was the line that got Peter’s attention.

**Sir Memesalot:** Woah really? I’m guessing you didn’t get any proof?

**Westerday’s News:** No but, I’m not lying! He always does it when I don’t have my camera just so he can spite me! 

Coincidental, but with Phantom’s recorded behavior he gets the impression that it really wouldn’t be so far-fetched for him to prank someone like that. Peter already had some newfound respect for Phantom.

**Sir Memesalot:** Right, well that kind of sounds like his personality from the various recordings I’ve seen. He seems to like messing with his enemies.

**Westerday’s News:** It just irks me that no one else has pieced it together.

**Sir Memesalot:** I’d imagine. According to my notes your classmates thought you were Phantom for a bit.

**Westerday’s News:** He started imitating some of my habits to make it look like I was just trying to convince everyone that Fenton was Phantom to get them off my back. I don’t even remotely look like him!

**Westerday’s News:** Though, I have a question for you.

**Sir Memesalot:** Yeah?

**Westerday’s News:** How did you hear about Phantom? No news station ever takes Amity Park seriously.

**Sir Memesalot:** He may have ran into the Avengers.

**Westerday’s News:** Did it have to do with the weird purple energy?

**Sir Memesalot:** You know about that?

**Westerday’s News:** Somewhat. He had just finished fighting the giant ghost dog thing when this weird purple aura surrounded him and he disappeared. When I saw Fenton and his friends at the Nasty Burger later they were talking about it. They mentioned cultist nazis?

So Hydra then. That summarizes them pretty darn well.

**Sir Memesalot:** I gotta get back to research, but let me know if you find anything else. I got a lot to think about now.

**Westerday’s News:** Right, you know where to find me.

Peter turned off his phone with a sigh. It seems he went from betraying Tony, to pranking Steve and betraying Clint, to gaining an informant. He had to admit, though, that Wes did have some pretty strong evidence without having physical evidence. Peter knew there was only one way to find out for sure. He turned his phone back on and searched for Danny Fenton’s profile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is I’m in my last two weeks of college for the semester! Bad news is it’s finals time and I need to put all my focus into studying and working, so I’m going to have to temporarily step back from the story for the next two weeks. This is why the chapter was early this week. There won’t be an update tomorrow, but this is your weekly update. I’d also really like to thank you guys for the 200+ kudos! It means a lot!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	12. It's Meme Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Meme King and the Meme'ing Jester meet for their first battle.
> 
> Who shall reign victorious?
> 
> Will anyone actually get any answers?
> 
> Find out on... Meme'dom!

**Danny’s POV**

It was around lunch time the next morning that Danny opened his phone and checked his messages. Much to his surprise, he found a message from someone he’s never heard of before. He glanced around the cafeteria to check if he was being watched before opening it and reading the messages.

 **Sir Memesalot  
** **  
** @Peter Parker

 **Sir Memesalot:** Hey, your name’s Danny Fenton, right?

Danny took a moment to pause as he read it over. It really wasn’t a good idea to talk to somebody without knowing who he was talking to.

 **Rick Roller:** New phone, who dis  
  
**Sir Memesalot:** Sandy Claws  
  
**Rick Roller:** Weren’t you kidnapped by 3 kids from Halloween Town?

 **Sir Memesalot:** I was rescued by Jack Skellington and his corpse bride.  
  
**Rick Roller:** You amused me till you said corpse bride. Wrong movie.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Oof, negative 10 points?

 **Rick Roller:** Affirmative.

 **Sir Memesalot:**...Affirmative 10 points?

 **Rick Roller:** No, affirmative to you having negative 10 points.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Oh. Rip.

 **Rick Roller:** All joking aside, who are you? And why are you looking for me?

 **Sir Memesalot:** Name’s Peter Parker, and I wanna know more about ghosts.

Danny let out a loud groan, which led to Sam and Tucker both shooting him a worried look.

 **Rick Roller:** Ah, you got the wrong number then.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Wait!  
  
**Rick Roller:** What.

 **Sir Memesalot:** I know you’re probably sick of being asked about ghosts and stuff ‘cause of your family.  
  
**Sir Memesalot:** But I got this topic from the debate team about if ghosts are real or not and your family came up in my search. 

**Sir Memesalot:** I uh, I was warned in the search that your parents could be a bit too enthusiastic. 

**Sir Memesalot:** So I was hoping I could talk to you?

 **Rick Roller:** Fine. I have the right to refuse to answer any question though.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Fair’s fair.

 **Rick Roller:** Also, in turn, you have to quote 1 meme per question.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Ha, give me a challenge.  
  
**Rick Roller:** 2.

 **Sir Memesalot:** We can do it in 4!

 **Rick Roller:** 5.  
  
**Sir Memesalot:** For the sake of the meme I want to continue, but for the sake of my sanity I cannot.

 **Rick Roller:** 5 it is.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Can’t we go back to 1?

 **Rick Roller:** Show no weakness.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Fine. You want your typical r/i’m14andthisisdeep or your r/superzeroes?

 **Ricker Roller:** Superzeroes????

 **Sir Memesalot:** Wait, you haven’t heard of r/superzeroes?

 **Rick Roller:** No???

 **Sir Memesalot:** Dude, hang on, I have so many to send you

Before any could be sent, however, the lunch bell rang.

 **Rick Roller:** Hold those pics for me, lunch just ended.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Alright, but don’t think I’ll give up on those questions

 **Rick Roller:** Didn’t dream of it. I want those memes too much.

Danny got off his phone and moved to head to class, only to realize Sam and Tucker were blocking his path. _“Uh, hey guys. Everything okay?”_

 _“Danny, who were you talking to? You were making that face you make when you insult your enemies.”_ Sam said as she motioned for him to walk with them, which he did.

_“My what face?”_

_“You know, when you said something you thought was super witty.”_ Tucker added from the side. _“You always do it, and the best way to describe it is a dog that just played in the mud.”_

_“That’s….”_

_“That’s completely valid.”_ Sam and Tucker shared a nod as Danny tried to process what he just heard. 

_“It is so not valid.”_

_“Nah.”_ Tucker was practically grinning like the Cheshire cat.

 _“Definitely valid.”_ _  
  
_ " _100% valid.”_ They were just nodding along as if Danny wasn’t even there.

_“You guys are the worst.”_

_“You know you love us.”_

_“Regrettably.”_

Ever the party pooper, Sam chose that time to make it serious again. _“Really though, who were you talking to?”_

_“Some dude named Peter Parker from New York.”_

_“Wait,”_ Tucker frowned, _“what did some New York kid want with you?”_

_“The usual, he wanted to know about ghosts.”_

Sam was scowling the moment she heard ‘ghost’. _“Did you tell him off?”_ _  
  
_ Danny rubbed at the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. _“Not really?”_

Both Sam and Tucker immediately gave him the disappointed mom look.

Tucker shook his head. _“Did he bribe you with memes?”_

_“Wha-, how did you know?”_

_“It’s totally your kryptonite.”_

_“You should have ghosted him, dude.”_

_“I couldn’t leave him on read, his name was Sir Memesalot! I had to respond!”_

_“Like we said, kryptonite.”_

_“Still, anybody that quotes memes can’t be that bad?”_

_“If there’s ever another ghost that quotes memes, we’re in trouble.”_

The trio was just outside their next class by this point. _“Don’t be ridiculous. As long as they can’t weaponize my puns against me I’d love to yell puns at them as we beat each other up. It would be a great bonding experience.”_

 _"_ _Regardless,”_ Tucker looked at Danny with concern, _“be careful when talking to this Peter Parker guy until we can do some research on him.”_

_“That was the plan.”_

_“Come on, let’s survive Mr. Lancer’s class and then we’ll worry about it.”_

_“Don’t we have a test today?”_ __  
  
_“Awww man.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I am so sorry! I took the time to study for finals (which I aced, btw) and didn’t write anything and got behind in chapters. Then, I wound up getting sick (not corona, just pneumonia) and was downed for a bit, which made me super behind. I’m okay now, but I apologize for the severe delay! I’m gonna attempt to double post this week as an apology.  
> I’d also like to note I had a bit of a hard time posting? Were servers down or something?  
> Also! To explain the time! No, Peter didn’t skip school. This is the next day (I had a hard time phrasing that, sorry). Peter had taken the night to examine the profile before making any moves to chat with Danny.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	13. Don't Get Test-y with Me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny is getting kind of tired of the universe using him as a litter box and just wants to talk to get the memes he was promised by one Peter Parker. Too bad the day really is testing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those of you who don’t really want to go back and read all of the chapters previous to this, here is a quick recap of the 12 chapters before now.
> 
> Chapter 1: Cult nerds summon the ghost king and can’t even recognize the guy they summoned. At that same moment, the Avengers bust into the same base during a rescue attempt to save the Hulk aka Bruce Banner.  
> Chapter 2: Somebody went and hit the “destroy the base button” and the alarm is ticking for Danny and the Avengers to get out. Thankfully Tony comes back for him and gets him to their jet just in time. This of course ends as expected with a lot of questions.  
> Chapter 3: Director Fury wants the unknown on the ship to question him but bites off more than he could chew when it comes to handling Danny’s sass.  
> Chapter 4: Otherwise known as The Chapter Where Tony’s Smarter Than All of Amity Park While Peter Fanboys in the Corner.  
> Chapter 5: The news had already heard of Danny Phantom meeting the Avengers, really, how does news spread so fast? Adding to the pile of “can it get worse: of course it can!” we get to hear the conversation Jack and Tony had. On the bright side we get to see Wulf.  
> Chapter 6: Danny’s mom catches him coming back through the window and as punishment he’s getting dragged to New York.  
> Chapter 7: Danny’s mom really just worries about her baby boy and Danny accidentally snaps at his dad and hurts Jack’s feelings.  
> Chapter 8: It never ends well when you lose your temper and say something without thinking it through, and Danny’s feeling bad about what he said, even if he did somewhat mean it. Shockingly, his dad doesn’t tell his mom on him, which only makes him feel worse about it. Danny then decides that it’s been 3 years and that his parents love him and they deserve to know the truth.  
> Chapter 9: The Fentons talk shop about how they’re going to handle the Avengers now that his parents know the truth. Danny also explains ghost code with his parents about the do’s and don’ts of what is okay to say to a ghost.  
> Chapter 10: Tony knows things and wants to know even more things. Also, really, this is just chapter 4 but with even more of Tony being smart while also deciding to sick Peter on Danny Fenton to try and learn more. On a side note, Tony needs more sleep.  
> Chapter 11: Peter, Loki, and Clint try to prank Steve and accidentally get Natasha too. Loki and Peter run and leave Clint to deal with the repercussions. Then, after a narrow escape, Peter learns about Wes Weston and Wes is just too happy to scream about what all he’s learned that no one will listen to.  
> Chapter 12: Peter then turns around and messages Danny on social media under the guise of wanting to learn about ghosts but being too nervous to approach Danny’s parents.The two instantly bond over memes and Sam and Tucker are nervous about that.  
> 

**Danny’s POV**

That test probably didn’t go so well, all things considered. At least Ember spiced things up with a surprise show at the school. Too bad she had to wait till just after everybody had already turned in their tests and Danny couldn’t slip past Mr. Lancer to check his answers. I know what everybody’s thinking,  _ even considering cheating is  _ **_wrong_ ** , but high school sucks when you have to fight ghosts every day and have no time to study. 

Then, by some ‘miracle’, Mr. Lancer managed to lose his test, which resulted in Mr. Lancer telling him he had to stay back after school to retake the test before he could head home. Which, frankly, was kind of unfair that it was only his test that got lost in the chaos even though he could’ve sworn he put it in the pile with everyone else’s. That’s just his luck though, the universe is practically always against him. So when school finally ended, his friends had to go ahead without him while he got stuck back in Lancer’s room with a 1 on 1 proctored test. Normally, Danny was used to people staring at his ghost half, but it was a rather unnerving feeling to know that Lancer was only watching him to make sure he wouldn’t cheat.  _ “Uh… Mr. Lancer?” _

__ _ “Yes?” _

__ _ “Can you… maybe stare at me a little less? You’re kind of wigging me out.” _

__ _ “Catch-22 Fenton, it’s a proctored test, what do you expect me to do?”  _

__ _ “I know, I know. Sorry.” _

__ _ “The sooner you finish the sooner we can leave.” _

__ _ “Yeah, I know. I’m trying.” _

__ _ “You’ll do fine Fenton, just focus and I know you’ll pass. When you actually put effort into something you do alright so just take it easy.”  _

__ _ “Thanks Mr. Lancer.” _

__ _ “You don’t need to thank me, I am a firm believer in everyone needing a guiding hand to either lift them up or smack them upside the head if they get up to shenanigans. Now, get back to your test, I’m sure you’re wanting to catch up with Foley and Manson.”  _ Danny smiled a bit despite the ever looming threat of the time he needed to turn in his test, but still, it was nice to know not all of his teachers had completely given up on his grades. From there, the test didn’t take too horribly long since he was able to at least remember most of the answers he chose previously. When he finally stood up to turn in he grimaced as his back popped loudly. 

_ “Yeesh, I feel like an old man.” _

__ _ “Get to my age, then you can complain about back problems.” _

__ _ “Are you gatekeeping age?” _

__ _ “You can call me one of the Queen’s guards then.” _

__ _ “Did you just make a joke? Am I dreaming?” _

__ _ “Ha-ha Fenton, very funny. Now get going, I got papers to grade.” _

__ _ “Right, uh, thanks again for the pep talk.” _

__ _ “Don’t get mushy Fenton, and don’t think for a second that I’ve gotten soft either.” _

__ Danny found himself giving Mr. Lancer a half smirk as he walked through the door and tossed back a quick  _ “Wouldn’t dream of it!”  _ as he bolted down the hall. He quickly glanced down at his phone and grimaced at the time. How did he manage to take 40 minutes on a test he already did? He almost considered going ghost just so he could get home sooner, but he was sure his parents would understand when he explained and that it wouldn’t hurt to take it slow and just breathe for once. He belatedly realized just how rare it was for him to not be in a rush anymore ever since the ghost portal opened up. That almost made him a bit weary, but he decided it was better to not jinx himself and to just be grateful about it. 

It was about the time he got halfway home when his ghost sense went off, making him immediately regret every mental train about it being too peaceful. He quickly scanned his surroundings before running into a nearby alley to swap into his ghost half.  _ “Goin’ Ghost!”  _ Immediately, he shot up into the air and took a look around. It took him a little bit to spot what it was that set off his ghost sense since there were no signs of immediate chaos. There was a man standing on the roof of the library, and while anyone standing on a roof would normally provide a spike of worry, the man had the same incorporeal glow that all ghosts do. The man didn’t really seem aggressive, but Danny knew better than to ever assume a ghost was friendly without getting to talk to them first. Danny slowly floated closer as he debated the merits of talking to the guy or not. The decision, however, was made for him as the ghost had turned to face him, and to Danny’s surprise, the man didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see him.

_ “King Phantom, may I ask you something?” _

__ _ “Uhhh, I think you got the wrong number.” _

__ _ “No, I’m very sure you’re King Phantom.” _

__ _ “I abdicated the throne, I’m not your king.” _

__ _ “There’s no such thing as abdicating the throne in the ghost zone.” _

__ _ “Well that’s just too bad, ‘cause I did.” _

__ _ “Fine then, ghost child, will you answer a question?” _

__ _ “Uhh, no promises, but I’ll at least listen to the question and decide if I will answer it from there.” _

__ _ “Fair enough. I suppose I just wish to ask you why you bother with the humans.” _

__ _ “What exactly do you mean by that?” _

__ _ “I understand that you’re half human, but really, humans are so unreliable and will only cause you more problems.” _

__ _ “Plot twist, it’s the ghosts I have more issues out of.” _

__ _ “If you just embraced your other half--” _

__ _ “Not this again. Look, I’ll tell you the same thing I told the watchers the last time they decided to show up in my room uninvited to babble on about my role as king. My goal isn’t to deny people their obsessions, it’s just to protect my home and the people I care about. I wi-- er, I want everyone to find a way to handle their obsessions without needing to bother the living but that’s not always possible.” _

__ _ “I see…. Well, if you accepted your role as king you could order them to back off of your territory you know.” _

__ _ “Did the watchers send you? Cause they gave me this exact same spiel before too.”  _ The elder ghost sighed as he rubbed his face in irritation.

_ “Just tell me, have any mortals been dumb enough to try and summon you yet?”  _ Now  **that** caught Danny’s attention. 

_ “Uh, just once, why?”  _ The other ghost looked up in alarm, which only made Danny wonder if perhaps that’s not normal. 

_ “You’re the king, whether you like it or not boy. You need the protection charms within the ring of rage and the crown of fire! They prevent mortals from summoning you and chaining you to them so that they can control all of the undead!”  _

__ _ “But I abdi--” _

__ _ “Don’t, ghosts  _ **_cannot_ ** _ abdicate the throne! Your only options are to either accept your role and wear them or to lose in combat and let someone else become king.” _

__ _ “Why does it matter so much?!” _

__ _ “Because the ghost zone ties itself to the current victor, there is no just laughing it off and saying you’re not the king.” _ __ At this point, the ghost just looked exasperated.  _ “Besides, do you really want to risk the safety of your precious world just because you didn’t want some responsibility?” _

__ _ “Are you gaslighting me?” _

__ _ “Am I… what?” _

__ _ “Gaslighting.” _

__ _ “I don’t understand what that means?” _

__ _ “It’s when you try to make someone else feel guilty to make them do what you want. Or, well, more specifically it's to make them doubt their thoughts and decisions to try and get them to do what you want.” _

__ _ “Ah, then yes, yes I am.” _

__ _ “Dude, that’s low.” _

__ _ “Yes, well, you can’t fault me for trying. I am trying to look out for all of ghost kind you know.” _

__ _ “I just don’t get why I can’t just abdicate and let you guys pick a new leader or something!” _

__ _ “You’ve learned firsthand that ghosts decide everything with combat. Who leads, who follows, and what flavor cupcakes are available on Tuesdays.” _

_ “What was that last one?” _

__ _ “A long and bitter war.” _

__ _ “Riiiiiight.” _

__ The man cleared his throat and gestures at Danny again.  _ “Give me one chance to convince you firsthand to at the very least take the crown and ring. Just one. If you aren’t moved by my demonstration then I will let you go in peace until the next cultist summons you to try and destroy the world.” _

__ _ “Fine, what exactly do you have in mind?” _

__ _ “I was hoping you would say that!”  _ The ghost almost seems delighted as he reaches into his bag.  _ “Stay put for just about, say, 10 seconds?” _

__ _ “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” _

__ _ “No, no, of course not.”  _ Immediately, the ghost pulled out some salt and began to make a salt circle around Danny. 

_ “Uhh, is that table salt?” _

__ _ “Yep.” _

__ _ “And you’re spreading salt around me, why?” _

__ _ “You’ll see in just a moment.” _

__ _ “Okay then….”  _ Danny watched him circle him with the salt shaker until he was completely surrounded by the salt circle.

_ “There! You are now captured by the enemy. What do you do?” _

__ _ “I… what?” _

__ _ “Try to walk through without changing forms.”  _ Danny raised an eyebrow at him before doing as instructed, only to walk face first into an invisible barrier.

_ “What the-- What is this?!” _

__ _ “That, my liege, is table salt.” _

__ _ “I know that but how is it--?” _

__ _ “All ghosts are born with this knowledge of what to avoid and how to function. You, however, are not a true ghost and thus were not made with this knowledge.” _

__ _ “I literally figured that much out day 1, what are you trying to get at here?” _

__ _ “If you accept your position you would have people to teach you these things, as it would be their job to ensure that you are adequate at your job of leading the ghost zone. You see how easily mere mortals could detain you, now imagine if the foolish things sought to control you just as Freakshow did? You would hurt, and dare I say kill, a great many number of people King Phantom. Please, open your eyes and see reality as it truly is.”  _ Danny once more found himself stuck in thought as he mulled over this. Admittedly, the unnamed ghost dude had a point in the fact that Danny didn’t really know much about ghosts and that if the cultist dudes had known who they had captured it would have gone much differently, but he really didn’t want to just live in the ghost zone full time. The ghost, sensing his hesitation, continued in a much gentler tone as he destroyed the salt circle with a stick  _ “I understand that change is hard, it’s one of the hardest things for a ghost. Just, maybe consider setting ground rules with the watchers and at least looking out for ghost kind too, not just humans?” _

__ _ “Okay, I’ll… I’ll talk to them about it and try to figure something out, but don’t go around expecting me to be some kind of king or something.” _

__ _ “Thank you.”  _ The ghost began to float away, but Danny snagged his coat to stop him.

_ “Wait-- can I at least know your name? It’s not really that often I meet a ghost that doesn’t try to immediately make me a whole-ghost instead of a half-ghost!”  _ The man paused and smiled.

_ “I don’t remember what it was in life, but in death they call me Auspice.”  _ The ghost gave him one last farewell before floating away. Now Danny had so much more to consider for the night, but he wasn’t really sure if he had the will to get to it and unpack all of that tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my lord I’m so so sorry. I truly meant to get back into writing but a lot happened so fast. As a recap, you know that I got pretty sick and then turned around and got sick all over again. By the time I got healthy again college came back from around the corner with a vengeance and soccer punched me. Then, between college and staying sick, it’s been really difficult to find free time to write that wouldn’t be at like 3 am or something. I can’t promise regular uploads since college has me wading through a million assignments that I’m barely turning in on time, but I want to try to get back into writing this. Also, one last note, sorry for all the dialogue in this one. Would you guys prefer I tone the dialogue down a notch or just try to match it with more scene-scenes? Let me know in the comments please!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Small note, there is an original ghost character in this chapter that isn’t in the show or comic books attached to the series. Here's a bit of a description for him, but keep in mind he doesn't have an important role in the story so don't get attached! Auspice is a yellow haired ghost that's about 6'4 and has green eyes and gray skin. His ghost powers glow yellow like his hair (I only mention the powers cause ghosts have a natural glow to em and such). Lastly, Auspice is dressed in a simple white dress shirt, black pants, brown shoes, and a brown business coat.
> 
> Another small note added: I know I didn't use the textbook definition of gas lighting, I was using the connotative definition of "to make someone feel bad and question their previous thoughts, actions, and emotions". While that definition is not technically correct, it is a widely accepted definition and Danny, a mostly normal teenager, would probably use more of the connotative definitions instead of text book definitions. It's not in any of my intentions to undermine anyone's struggles or downplay how bad gas lighting can be so I apologize if anyone took it that way.


	14. Friends till the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends can be a bit overbearing sometimes, but they mean well. You can always count on a good friend to help you through anything or to at least be an emotional support pillar when things get rough or when your thoughts get dark.

**Danny’s POV**

By the time Danny got back to his room he had earned himself a headache and a bunch of texts. A quick glance showed he had missed a few messages from his fellow memester and he couldn’t resist the urge to open the chat and check out what all he missed. He found himself smiling to himself as he read through most of his missed messages. Seems Peter kept his promise of sending him various memes from the superzeroes subreddit. He really couldn’t help but snort as he saw the one of them showing Hawkeye being chased by Black Widow and Captain America, who were oddly enough covered in gravy? It was almost surreal to see the people he looked up to pranking each other, or, at least he’s assuming they were pranking each other and it wasn’t some new fashion trend.

The next one, however, made him wince in sympathy. It was of Spiderman crashing into a light post and the way he was posed definitely looked straight out of a Looney Toons episode. This went on for many, many more memes before he wound up losing track of time. It wasn’t too long into it that he began to send his own memes and for Peter to ask a few questions and Danny to ask his own. It was kind of nice to be able to just chat with someone without the ever looming threat of his social status or to have Sam, his sister, or Tucker on his case about ghosts. He was so lost in thought that just about dropped his phone as it began to ring, but he managed to catch it just before it hit the ground.  _ “Uhh, hello?” _

__ _ “Danny, you haven’t answered any of our texts--” _

__ _ “Oh, right, sorry, the test took me a while and I only just got home.” _

__ _ “Danny, it’s like, 6 pm.” _

__ _ “What--”  _ He actually had to turn his head to the side to read his clock. Sure enough, it really was 6 pm. Apparently he had been looking at the memes and chatting with Peter that long. 

_ “You were talking with that meme dude, weren’t you?” _

__ _ “I-- what? Noooooo, I was just--” _

__ _ “Fess up.” _

__ _ “Yeah, okay, he has good memes.” _

__ _ “Danny! You said you wouldn’t talk to him until we got more information!” _

__ _ “Well actually I said I wouldn’t tell him anything important until we got more information.” _

__ _ “Same thing! Danny, please, we have no idea if he can be trusted.” _

__ _ “Okay, okay, I promise I’ll answer the last few questions and let him know I’ll be too busy to chat for a week or something.” _

__ _ “Danny--” _

__ _ “I owe him for the memes Sam, it’s only fair.” _

__ _ “Honestly, sometimes I wonder how we’ve managed to go this far without getting caught yet.” _

__ _ “I have such chronic bad luck it has to balance out somewhere.” _

__ _ “I guess… but still, please just be more careful with him Danny.” _

__ _ “I will, I will.” _

__ _ “Somehow I don’t have faith in that, me and Tucker are coming over.” _

__ _ “Wait what, why!?” _

__ _ “To evaluate how bad your crush is.” _

__ _ “It’s a bromance at best Sam.” _

__ _ “Whatever, we’re on our way.” _

__ _ “But--”  _ Without even letting him finish his sentence, she had already hung up on him. He leaned back with a sigh and accepted the inevitable. As much as he appreciated Sam and Tucker helping him all the time with ghosts, it almost felt as if they only hung out with him because they thought the ghost stuff was cool. It was moments like this he really missed the early, pre-ghost days. Back when they would just play games and he didn’t have to worry about some ghost destroying the universe just to get the strawberry cupcakes on Tuesday. Lord, even what Auspice said was worming its way into his head. It was almost too tempting, in a way. Could he really just order all the ghosts not to attack Earth and to find a way to handle their obsessions without needing to hurt people? Or, would he need to make specific decrees for each and every ghost? Cause that might take a while if he had to talk to everyone.

_ “Danny! Sam and Tucker are here to see you!”  _ His mom hollered from downstairs. He quickly shot Peter a text to let him know that he’s gonna be afk for a bit and not to worry before hollering back down to his mom.

_ “Thanks mom! They can come up!”  _ He sat himself up and prepared for the interrogation. As if on queue, Sam practically slammed the door open.

_ “Talk buster, how much did you spill?” _

__ _ “Hi Sam, good to see you too. You seem in high  _ **_spirits._ ** _ ” _

__ _ “Don’t you make puns at me--” _

__ _ “Come on, you’d  _ **_mist_ ** _ them if I stopped making them!”  _ It was around that time Tucker closed the door behind him and Sam.

_ “Okay dude, but, for real, maybe don’t say them so loud? What if your parents hear?” _

__ _ “So uh…. Funny story?” _

__ _ “Danny--”  _ They both began at the same time. 

_ “No, it’s okay! They didn’t try to experiment on me or question me or anything! Sorta… I mostly explained ghost etiquette and have been working on them, you know, not being completely anti-ghost? Just anti-evil-ghost and stuff.”  _ Both Sam and Tucker looked a bit nervous to hear that, though Danny couldn’t blame them considering how many times his parents had threatened to rip him to shreds or experiment on him. At their hesitant looks, he tacked on a small  _ “I promise, everything’s okay!” _

__ _ “Alright, but if your parents go off the deep end, call us and we’ll hide you, okay?”  _ Not surprisingly, Sam was the first to bounce back and assure him that she had his back. It almost made him feel bad for his earlier train of thought, he knows good and well that they are his friends, ghost or no ghost. Words were getting a bit hard, so he just resorted to nodding and smiling before deciding to show them the texts and memes with Peter to assure them that the questions weren’t in danger of outing himself to some stranger from New York with a good taste in memes.

_ “C’mere, let’s sit down so I can show you the texts and pictures. Standing will just make our legs hurt.” _

__ Tucker immediately flopped down with an exaggerated huff,  _ “Finally, sweet, sweet relaxation!”  _ Danny sat directly to Tucker’s right, and Sam sat on Danny’s right as well, which left Danny wedged in the middle of his two best friends. Danny opened up his phone, which was already on the chat. It took about 20 minutes to scroll through the chat and summarize everything discussed since most of the chat was taken up by memes and bad jokes.  _ “Yikes, do you two really cackle about superzeroes knowing the things you-- oh my god they even have some of your fails.” _

__ Danny chuckled  _ “Yeah, a bit embarrassing to realize tons of strangers saw that but at least mine aren’t as popular as the Avengers or Spiderman and the other heroes or something like that. Though, according to Peter, the ones involving me have blown up lately since that news article--” _

__ _ “Wait, what news article?”  _ Sam was frowning again.

_ “Uhhh, remember that day I got kidnapped by cultists?” _

__ _ “Which time?”  _ Danny turned to see Tucker now mirroring Sam’s look as he spoke. Even with the attempt at a joke it didn’t really lighten the mood at all.

_ “The one where I met the Avengers. Did you guys really not see the article?”  _ When both Tucker and Sam shook their heads, he pulled it up on his computer for them. He spared them each a side glance as he gave them time to read through and felt a stab of guilt at their expressions. He hated worrying them, or anyone for that matter. The air was getting fairly thick with their anxiety so he figured it was best to clear that now before they would get anymore worried. But, honestly he had no idea how to do that, so he decided to just change the topic instead, that can’t go wrong, right?  _ “I’ve been thinking lately, and I’m going to talk with the observants today.”  _ Wrong, it had the opposite effect.

Sam jerked her face away from the screen so fast he swore he could hear the whiplash and Tucker froze.  _ “What are you visiting them for?!”  _ Danny raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

_ “Well, I’ve been talking to some ghosts and I have a few questions that I need answered and figured they’d be the best place to start.” _

__ _ “Danny,”  _ Tucker began,  _ “they only care about ghosts. I highly doubt they’d say anything other than what  _ **_they_ ** _ want, not what is best for you.” _

__ _ “Just… hear me out, okay? I met this ghost a few days ago and he made me realize that I don’t really know anything about half of who I am--” _

__ Sam immediately cut him off to interject,  _ “ _ **_What_ ** _ you are, Danny. Being a halfa doesn’t define you as a person.”  _

__ _ “Fine, fine, I don’t know anything about half of what I am. Like, remember the blood blossoms? I had no idea about that, and there’s so many other weaknesses I probably have no idea about. If I meet a ghost hunter with an aim better than my parents or anybody else up to this point, how can I expect to keep myself alive in order to protect people?” _

__ _ “What if they expect something in return for those answers?”  _ Tucker was unusually quiet for once as he spoke.  _ “What if they expect you to give up your human half entirely? Or to become King?” _

__ With a grimace, Danny rubbed at the back of his neck and looked at the ground.  _ “I… I don’t really want to do either of those things. Not in the slightest.”  _ He shook his head softly before continuing.  _ “But what if me refusing the crown is causing pain to those innocent ghosts? Like, what if I could do something for them and for us at the same time? I need to be better equipped to handle threats.” _

__ _ “Danny, we’ve done fine up to this point--” _

__ _ “I know. But what happens when we meet a threat we can’t face? One that knows how to hurt ghosts and I’m useless in both forms? I just, I want to protect everyone, and that includes the ghosts too. When I was thinking earlier about what Auspice said, my core started to hurt at the very thought of me not doing what I could for everyone. What if I found a peaceful way to help with obsessions? Or needed to prevent the living from hurting the ghosts too weak to fight back? Or--” _

__ Tucker and Sam shared a look before they both each put a hand on his shoulders. Sam spoke up first while being sure to keep her voice more gentle than Danny was used to from her.  _ “If you think talking to the observants is the best route for now, then we’ll support you. But Danny, please don’t forget about yourself in all of this. What you want matters too.” _

__ Tucker nodded before joining in  _ “Yeah man, we don’t wanna lose our best friend to his own head or to some crazy people. Ghost or living, nobody has any claim to how you live your life except for you. Try to remember that when your thoughts get dark, man.”  _ A small smile tugged at Danny’s lips, even if it was a bit wobbly. 

_ “Thanks guys, I think I’m ready to talk to them now.”  _ Danny stood up and dusted himself off as he tried to ignore the pit in his stomach.  _ “I promise I’ll consider myself and you guys in all of this too, you’re my best friends after all.”  _ They both stood up and he gave each of them a hug.  _ “I’ll talk with ya in a few hours or so, I’m not really sure how long this will take, but I promise to let you know when I get back.”  _ Danny whispered his catchphrase under his breath and swapped forms. With a wave, he went to the basement to head into the ghost portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again, finally getting back into the swing of things! (I’m sorry I’m slow, college lol) I'm also very sorry this one is somewhat short. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit longer, but I felt that the point I got it to was the best stopping point to intro into the next chapter. As always, I greatly encourage comments and would love to chat with you in general or to hear your ideas!
> 
> With that, I just wanna take the time to firstly thank you all for helping me keep the will to keep writing, I really do enjoy this story. Next, I would also like the time to apologize again really quick. I went back to chapter 12 to explain why I used the particular definition of gaslighting I did within the chapter notes at the end, but I still want to make it very clear that it is never my intention to undermine anyone's struggles and I'm very sorry to anyone that has to go through these things. I did edit the text a little bit to hopefully make it more emphasized but I have never experienced it to an extent it can reach and doubt I could write that perfectly. 
> 
> Also, sorry to topic swap again here, but I’m going to make a poll and this is gonna be a very serious poll for the fic.
> 
> 1\. Yes to Danny being in a relationship (and comment who you’d want it to be towards, if this wins then I’ll make another poll with the most repeated names to try and figure out what ship you guys want).  
> 2\. No relationships with Danny (friendships only).  
> 3\. I don’t particularly care either way and won’t be upset if you take one route or another (if this route wins I’ll probably see which one has the second highest vote and go from there). 
> 
> https://strawpoll.com/x99cbz2ue <\- That is the poll in question  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	15. A Stark Contrast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony hasn't really had his PTSD creep up on him in a little while, but sometimes these things have a way to creep up on you and drag you down. Even billionaires sometimes have thoughts that become too much, and there's no shame in leaning on someone a little bit.

**Tony’s POV:**

Tony prided himself on being a pretty smart man, all things considered. At one point in life, he even considered himself the greatest mind of all time. That thought was quickly thrown into the dirt and stomped on ruthlessly the day he met Peter, and then twice fold when he met Shuri. Honestly, he decided then and there that he had nothing to worry about when it came to the future of the world. Atleast, until he met a ghost kid in a hydra base and realized that space travel wasn’t the most dangerous threat they were going to face. Part of him was still debating the merit of the kid just being another mutant he would inevitably be concerned about, but the other half of him could not get over all of the historical records he appeared in and just how old some of these records were. How old was the kid truly? When and how did he even die if he is a ghost? Was he immortal in the living sense or the immortality that being dead provides?

It was a morbid thought to mull on, about ghosts actually existing and if the kid actually was one. If that were the case, what exactly makes a ghost? Were the old stories about grudges and regrets accurate or were ghosts a result of the pain they were in when they died? What happened to that kid? When he had Friday pull up a bunch of books on the mythos of ghosts he almost felt a bit silly, but decided that Amity Park alone could not possibly hold all of the answers he needed and his initial search didn’t yield enough data for his liking. It was no secret that Tony doesn’t like not knowing or understanding something and would work himself to _death_ until he figured it out.

Then there was a matter of the Fentons and their son who looked so similar to Phantom that it was uncanny. Add in them both having the same first name and it felt like a bad joke you would expect to see in a kid’s show; almost like the moments where Clark Kent rips off his shirt and reveals he’s Superman. A tiny part of his sleep addled brain laughed and even suggested the ghost kid had a silly catchphrase like ‘It’s Ghost Time!’ or something like that. Lord knows the kid yells enough puns when he’s fighting, so having a silly catchphrase for a battlecry sounds like something he would do. He found himself pouring himself more coffee as a particularly horrid thought chased away his amusement. If Fenton was Phantom, did that make him a mutant or a walking corpse? Or was the ghost a hitchhiker that possesses a living kid to interact with the real world? He took an oblivion long swig as more and more dark scenarios crossed his mind. He really needed a stronger drink.

Phantom had seemed so alive though, so carefree and almost childish, but what if he really was a malicious being? He was even more determined to get to the source of it all. As much as it pained him to think about, if he found that Phantom was possessing Fenton unwillingly or that Phantom really was the bad guy like some of the media portrayed him to be, then he would have to find a way to remove the ghost to protect people, to protect Fenton. No matter what it took, if it came down to it he would try everything in his power not to let Fenton get hurt or die in the process. Even if that meant Phantom had to be destroyed. He didn’t want a kid’s blood on his hands, but he had a horrible feeling that his hands would be bloodied in a sense if he got rid of Phantom. He temporarily set aside his search on ghosts and ghosts in general to toss Peter a text.

 **Sir Memesalot** **  
**@Peter Parker

 **Sir Memesalot:** Amd then MJ totally hit the dude!

 **Sir Memesalot:** (And

 **Sir Memesalot:** You shoulda been there Mr. Stark! It was awesome!!

 **The Real IronMan:** Honestly, he had it coming

 **Sir Memesalot:** Yeah, he really did.

 **The Real IronMan:** Hang on kid, meeting, talk to you in a few hours

 **Sir Memesalot:** Oh, ok! Cya theb!

 **Sir Memesalot:** (then!

\----------------------------New Message-------------------------

 **The Real IronMan:** Sorry it took so long, you busy?

 **Sir Memesalot:** Nope! All good! What’s up?

 **Sir Memesalot:** Everything okay?

 **The Real IronMan:** Yeah, everything’s fine kid. Any news on Fenton or ghosts in general?

A tiny prick of guilt shot through him and he made a note to chat with Peter more after this so he didn’t feel like he was just using Peter for information.

 **Sir Memesalot:** Oh dude! Tons! Hang on, might be easier in person

 **Sir Memesalot:** If that’s okay???

 **The Real IronMan:** Yeah, that works. _Swinging_ by the tower won’t mess with homework time right?

 **Sir Memesalot:** Nope! Already did it today for once thanks to MJ helping me focus

 **The Real IronMan:** Alrighty, any time works with me. Just give me a holler before you come over

 **Sir Memesalot:** Alrighty, hollering

 **The Real IronMan:** You’re already on your way, aren’t you?

 **Sir Memesalot:** Yeah, I was going to swing by to help Clint with a prank

 **The Real IronMan:** Just try not to anger Natasha this time

 **Sir Memesalot:** Well, it’s meant for Steve so

 **The Real IronMan:** Remember the gravy.

 **Sir Memesalot:** ...duly noted

Now knowing that Peter was on his way, Tony closed his phone and shot an exasperated look at the piles of notes on his desk and all of the screens he had pulled up. He figured he should be sorting through them, but decided that waiting to hear from Peter about Fenton and the ghosts was the better call since half of these sources just said the same thing in different terms. A cursory glance to the clock, again, showed that almost no time had passed since he last looked. The minutes felt unbearably slow as he sat there, waiting and waiting. Is this how Phantom felt in that cage? Bored out of his mind? He shook his head to clear his thoughts and stood up to stretch. In the process, his back popped loudly and earned a sharp groan. Honestly, he wasn’t even that old! 

It was about the time that he moved to the door he realized something was amiss. Everything felt odd, a little too slow or synthetic. None of his senses were matching what was happening around him. Even the pain from his back had faded almost instantly into a weird buzz along his spine. It almost jarring as he realized that, for the first time in a long time, he felt like he was dissociating. He hesitantly licked his lips and grimaced at the foreign feeling it caused. _“Friday? Can you play some music?”_

_“Is that what you deem the best course of action sir? Perhaps talking to someone would help more.”_

_“I don’t really trust my voice right now Fri.”_

_“You sound fine to me, sir.”_

_“Friday, please just play something.”_

_“As you wish…. Would you like me to warn you when Peter is in the elevator up?”_ Leave it to Friday to always know him best.

_“Please.”_

_“Of course sir.”_ Without waiting for a response, Friday immediately turned on some heavy rock. It wouldn’t really make the feeling go away, not in the slightest, but it might be enough to drown out his thoughts and to hopefully get him back on track. Almost instinctively, he gravitated towards his table where he was working on a new prototype for Barnes. The man had managed to damage his prosthetic, again, and Tony was dead set and determined to make sure he wouldn’t destroy another. _‘He doesn’t deserve our help’_ a tiny voice whispered in the back of his mind, but he chased it off and reminded himself that Barnes was under mind control when he did it, and that the man didn’t deserve his hatred for it.

He got so absorbed into his work and his struggle to forget his worries that it took a fairly long time for Friday’s voice to break through to him. _“Sir? Peter is in the elevator on his way up. I’ve been calling to you for the last three minutes.”_

_“Shit--”_ Tony quickly began to clean up his station and his hands before checking his reflection to make sure he didn’t look too terrible. If Peter got worried about him he’d tell Pepper, and then Tony would never hear the end of it. _“Friday, please turn off the music. I don’t want to hurt Peter’s ears.”_

_“Right away sir.”_ The horrid silence almost immediately flooded into the room. He just had to hold out for a minute more for Peter to arrive. Then, as if on queue, Peter practically ran through the door, grinning from ear to ear. 

_“Mr. Stark! I know I’m supposed to be spying and all but Danny is so cool--”_ Before Tony could even process everything, Peter was beside him with his phone out and showing him the conversations they’ve had. Tony grimaced a bit as the worrying thought of possession shot through him, but he shook it off to listen to Peter talk. _“--and like, apparently ghosts are so strong there cause of a ghost portal or something? He refused to go into any details though so I’m trying to worm it out of him with this Johnny Depp meme and-- Mr. Stark? Are you okay?”_ Tony only then fully zoned in and recovered.

_“I’m fine, kid, just a little overwhelmed.”_

_“Was…was the meeting bad or something? You look tired.”_

_“Not really, just a bit stressful to deal with. Don’t worry about it though, I’m okay now.”_ Almost unsurprisingly to himself, he realized that he actually meant it. There was something about Peter’s cheerful demeanor that helped chase away the demons. Kid didn’t even realize how helpful and good he was sometimes. _“I know I’m going to regret asking, but what exactly do you mean by ‘Johnny Depp meme’ here?”_

_“It’s to show support, Mr. Stark.”_

_“I see... Guess I’ve not really paid attention to news not relating to supers, huh?”_

_“That’s an absolute crime Mr. Stark.”_

_“You can work on it with me later then, now, I believe we were discussing Amity Park and its ghost problem?”_

_“Oh yeah! So apparently ghosts are everywhere but--”_ If Tony cracked a smile at his not-his-kid’s ranting, then nobody was any wiser since said teenager was in a rant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, welcome back again and ty for reading so far! I really wanted to get this chapter out since I'll be super busy with exams for the next two weeks. I'm right at the finals and I'm so ready for this semester to be over and to get some breathing room!
> 
> As I mentioned in the last chapter, there is going to be another poll to determine the shipping of the fic. The yes/neutral were the grand majority of the votes so the ship will be confirmed, but I feel now is the best time to choose the ship itself since I myself am neutral and don’t mind to write any of the ships (with some limitations, and no, there will be no sexy times or anything like that, not that kinda story).  
> The current options are:  
> Peter, Shuri, Loki, Sam, Valerie, and a slot for if your choice is unlisted (so far I only got it built off of names I’ve seen in comments).
> 
> https://strawpoll.com/ps3qj9zso <\- This is the poll in question  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new inventions mentioned in this chapter!


	16. Crown-ing Achievement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny finally takes the time to talk to the Observants and get some concerns answered. Now it's up to him to take all of the facts and decide what he wants to do from there.

**Danny’s POV:**

Despite his earlier resolve to march right in and demand answers, a small part of him was hesitating as he hovered in front of the door of the Tribunal Headquarters. Every little worry was plaguing him, but he knew that he couldn’t put this conversation off forever. Well, he theoretically could, but he didn’t feel like it. He took a deep breath to still his nerves and opened the doors slowly. Inside, the Observants were having a meeting and were ‘discussing’ events that haven’t happened yet. One sentence in particular caught his attention.  _ “All in favor of preventing the Avengers from meeting the ghost child again?”  _ Danny pressed a bit closer to the door in hopes of not being seen. From his view, the majority of them raised their hands. Those who didn’t began the debate of the merits, while those that did continued to argue their side. 

To be honest, Danny always assumed they shared one giant conscious like a hive mind considering how identical they all are. Seeing them argue like this, however, made him have to consider changing his entry on them in the * ghost logs. He then tried to tune back into the conversation, but the debate was a bit hard to follow with how many of them were yelling over each other. Just what was so bad, or good, about him meeting the Avengers again? They’re awesome! If a bit weird. What is the worst that could happen if he meets the Avengers again, really?

His train of thought was interrupted by how silent the room suddenly was. He glanced back up and realized they all were staring at him, which, creepy much?  _ “Uhhhh, heeeeey.”  _ He gave them a lopsided grin in hopes that they weren’t too mad from him listening in for the last six minutes without announcing his presence.  _ “Howsit’ goin’?”  _ The Observants still weren’t speaking.  _ “So uh--” _

__ _ “How much of that did you hear, ghost child?”  _

__ He blinked slowly, wondering why they’re even asking that when they could just peek at the timeline and know for sure. Was the topic really so important that they let their guard down and didn’t realize he was coming to visit? He decided to be honest, if only because that might open the conversation more and he can learn something about it.  _ “I got in around the time you debated on letting me see the Avengers again.”  _ At this, the Observants shared a wary look.

_ “I see. We shall discuss that shortly. In the meantime, have you considered our earlier proposal?” _

__ _ “I have, but I have a few questions I want answered, truthfully mind you, before I give you said answer.” _

__ _ “Very well, begin your questioning ghost child.”  _ Danny took a deep breath when he heard that. It helped knowing that they, at the very least, were going to answer him. It remained to be seen, however, if they were going to tell the whole truth or just bits and pieces. 

_ “If I accept the crown, what would happen to my human half?” _

__ _ “We do not know.”  _ Danny furrowed his brows when they said this.

__ _ “You don’t…. Know? But like, can’t you look through the timeline?”  _ He was hard pressed to keep his voice from a shout. 

_ “We see only one timeline, ghost child. As of right now you are refusing the crown, thus our view of the timeline in which you do is limited and unavailable.”  _ That unfortunately lined up with what he learned about them.

_ “Alright… Next question then, I guess. Does accepting the crown and ring prevent me from being summoned?” _

__ _ “No, however there are measures to prevent the king from being summoned, which would immediately be taken the moment you don the crown and ring.” _

__ _ “Which are?” _

__ _ “There are charms and wards that can be made, and you would have your choice of them.” _

__ _ “How come the charms and wards aren’t mixed into the crown and ring, or given to a king immediately?” _

__ _ “Unlike the crown and ring, the protective charms are bound to each individual King’s core as well as an item of personal value, and cannot be applied to any item to be given to the next king. It is upon the King’s coronation that the charms are made.” _

__ _ “Can you guess if said charm would even work on me?” _

__ _ “We have little to no reason to believe it would harm you or would fail, as the living have a similar enough charm.”  _ That was comforting, at the least. 

_ “Does it…. Is it bad for the ghosts of the ghost zones that I keep refusing the crown? Like, a direct effect?” _

__ _ “To an extent, yes, as you are tied directly to the ghost zone itself now. Your safety is crucial to the ghost zone’s security. For example, say you are summoned--” _

__ Danny interrupted them halfway through, already knowing what they were going to say. _ “--and mind controlled or something, that would give enemies the ability to order me to order the ghost zone to obey their commands, right?”  _ The nod the Observants gave him did nothing to quell his fears, but only confirmed them. He bit his lip and grimaced.  _ “Final question, for now anyways since I’m sure I’ll have more later… if I become king--” _

__ _ “You already are king--” _

__ _ “Hush, let me finish. If I  _ **_officially_ ** _ become king… What all am I expected to do exactly? Like, do I just mosey around like everything is normal or do I have to do official king things?” _

__ _ “That depends on the type of ruler you become. As you know, the ghost zone went hundreds of years without an official ruler, and might not be too keen on someone trying to boss them around now. However, you would have the right to officiate and make demands as you see fit.” _

__ _ “I see…. Well, I think I've made my decision, then.” _

__ Despite not having mouths to talk or smile with, he could practically hear the smile in their voices as they spoke, all at once. Honestly almost made him re-reconsider changing them from a hivemind. _ “Very well, what shall it be?” _

__ _ “I’ll take up the crown, but I want you to know that if this kills me I will be a very bitter man.”  _

_ “Most wonderful, we shall begin the preparations for the coronation--” _

__ _ “I don’t want anything crazy for this, the last thing I want is to make a spectacle out of myself.” _

__ _ “My king-- the coronation isn’t just to celebrate your victory. It’s mostly for the ghosts of the ghost zone.” _

__ _ “What do you mean?” _

__ _ “Firstly, it lets them see you and know not to incur your wrath. Secondly, it lets them know who to take all of their concerns to should the need arise. Lastly, it is when you make a formal address for your plans on how you seek to handle the government of the ghost zone.” _

__ _ “I guess… When exactly do we plan to do this?” _

__ _ “Tomorrow!” _

__ _ “Wha-- tomorrow? So soon? Isn’t that like, a lot to do in a day?” _

__ _ “Fret not ghost child, never underestimate ghosts when they’re determined to do something. Besides, it is of your best interest to get it done as soon as possible so that you can have those protective charms made.” _

__ _ “I guess, alright I suppose. But, can I ask--” _

__ _ “I thought that was your final question, young one?” _

__ _ “It was my final question relating to the king stuff, I got another few questions in general.” _

__ _ “Very well. Perhaps this can wait then? We have much to discuss amongst ourselves in preparation for tomorrow.” _

__ _ “No dice, my first question relates to the Avengers--”  _ At this, the Observants seemed almost nervous. 

_ “What, pray tell, do you wish to know?” _

__ _ “Why would you discuss letting me meet them or not?” _

__ _ “That is quite the delicate topic--” _

__ _ “You promised not to lie or hide things from me.” _

__ _ “So we did…. Very well, your majesty. We have discussed possible timelines with Clockwork and determined seven different timelines. As of your choice to accept the crown, we have cut it down to four timelines that are possible for us now. Two of those remaining timelines do not end well, and both of which involve you getting involved with the Avengers for one reason or another.” _

__ _ “I see.. What about the other two?” _

__ _ “In one of the other two, you meet them, but a very key event happens that does not within the other two.” _

__ _ “And what exactly is that event?” _

__ _ “I apologize, your majesty, but some things we are not allowed to disclose, as it is against our oath.”  _ That was irking, but fair all things considering. If there’s anything Danny’s learned it’s that ghosts take oaths insanely seriously. 

_ “Fine, and the last one?” _

__ _ “You do not meet them, but disaster still strikes due to poor timing.” _

__ _ “Hmm, so there’s not really much I can do to prepare for anything, then?” _

__ _ “I’m afraid not, your majesty.” _

__ _ “Enough with the ‘your majesty’ stuff.” _

__ _ “You are king--” _

__ _ “I’m also 17 and quite frankly in need of more sleep. Your point?” _

__ _ “It is customary to--” _

__ _ “As king, I’d prefer not to be called King and to just be called Danny. I’ll be your king, but I don’t want to be called by a title, it’s weird.” _

__ _ “...As you wish. Now, you best be off, your majesty” _

__ _ “Danny--” _

__ _ “...You best be off, Danny, many things are about to occur.” _

__ _ “What, why? What exactly is about to happen?” _

__ _ “Your parents are searching for you to help you pack, you leave tomorrow for New York after all.” _

__ _ “Shoot! I forgot all about that!”  _ Without waiting for a reply, Danny dashed off through the doors of the headquarters and gunned it for the ghost portal. Had he taken a moment to think about the information he just learned, he would have realized how odd it was that he would have his coronation on the same day he left for New York.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had a lot of writing inspiration the last few days, so I’ve been writing at a pretty good rate for once. I think half of it is that the semester is almost over, just 4 more days and I’m free for Christmas break and can relax.
> 
> Also, as of right now Peter/Danny has the most votes, but I won’t be closing the votes until after chapter 22 or so. 
> 
> With all that aside, ty all for reading and I hope you enjoy the later chapters as much as the ones I got out now.  
> As the poll is still open, here's the link to determine the main ship as that's what won the first poll:  
> https://strawpoll.com/ps3qj9zso <\- This is the poll in question  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No new acronyms to explain this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> No translations needed for this chapter!  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> Ghost logs - I've been corrected, it is actually canon. Thank you Oodled and I_dont_care_16 for telling me and thank you Dragonhuman for telling me it was in the episode called Secret Weapons - Basically, it’s a giant list of all the ghosts Danny has met and/or fought with basic information about them. I don’t really see Danny readily giving this out to anybody since he catalogs weaknesses in my version, but I can see him making a second version for others to view.


End file.
